Renewed optimism, battle-hardened squad and character: Rangers enjoying their free midweek

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst will no doubt be enjoying a rare free midweek with all of his players in Glasgow to work with following one of the most intense and gruelling periods of his fledgling Ibrox tenure.

April started poorly for Rangers with a damaging cinch Premiership defeat by Celtic and then a 1-0 loss in Portugal to Braga in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final. With star striker Alfredo Morelos also ruled out until the start of next season after undergoing thigh surgery, their season looked to be heading towards bitter disappointment on the domestic and continental front.

Momentum is such a key factor in sport, so for Rangers to recover their poise in the space of seven days and breathe genuine hope into their challenges on three fronts deserves immense credit.

On Sunday, 10 April, they beat St Mirren 4-0 on league duty three days after their exploits in Europe, and then on Thursday, 14 April, they surmounted the one-goal deficit in the second leg of their tie against Braga to book a place in the last four of the Europa League. Having needed extra-time to do so, the odds were against them turning over Celtic in the Scottish Cup semis on Sunday, 17 April, but again they dug deep, so deep to do so. Once again they needed a further 30 minutes, but they prevailed 2-1.

The upshot of this gruelling period that left many Rangers players absolutely flat out at full-time at Hampden is a Scottish Cup final to look forward to on Saturday, 21 May, against Hearts, a Europa League semi-final against RB Leipzig – the first leg away on Thursday, 28 April – with a Premiership match against Motherwell to come this weekend.

As Rangers trail Celtic by six points in the league and have a vastly