Giovanni van Bronckhorst believes his Rangers side will need to be at their best if they wish to beat Portuguese outfit Braga in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
After finishing second in Group A, the Gers secured a memorable 6-4 aggregate triumph over Borussia Dortmund in the playoff round, before beating Red Star Belgrade 4-2 over two legs in the round of 16 last month.
Now, Rangers will be competing in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2008, and ahead of this huge occasion for the Scottish Premiership champions, Van Bronckhorst has affirmed that his side will "try to win with the strongest team possible" as they bid to reach the last four.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday's first leg in Portugal, the Dutchman said: "It is not often you play a quarter-final in Europe, it is a big opportunity to reach the semi-finals.
"We have to work hard and put in top performances. Braga is a very good team, they won against Benfica on Friday and we look forward to a tough challenge.
"We will go out every game and try to win with the strongest team possible. The team has performed really well in Europe, now we are one stage further and are pushing for a semi-final. There is all to play for and we go out to win this tie.
"We have to be there in every department at this stage in Europe, we need a complete performance on Thursday. We have managed to do this in Europe so far and we have to do it again to win against a strong opponent.
"We have watched a lot of Braga matches, it is a strong opponent. A lot of team spirit and very quick in transition moments. They have shown very good performances to reach this stage and we will need to be at our best against Braga."
Rangers – who will be without star striker Alfredo Morelos for the rest of the season after he underwent thigh surgery – head into Thursday's contest off the back of a 2-1 defeat in the Old Firm derby against bitter rivals Celtic last weekend.
Oliver Thomas
