Rangers 'should be excited' by Royal Antwerp last-32 tie - Steven Gerrard
- Published
Rangers beat Kilmarnock 1-0 on Saturday to move 21 points clear at the top of the Premiership
Steven Gerrard thinks Rangers have a "wonderful opportunity" to progress further in the Europa League as they are "in a fantastic place".
Rangers travel to face Royal Antwerp on Thursday in the last-32 after re-establishing their 21-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Saturday's 1-0 defeat of Kilmarnock was their seventh consecutive home win since drawing with Benfica.
"People should be excited - we are in a good place," Gerrard said.
"It will be a nice break away from the league and we will give everything we have got to try and set it up for the second leg."
While Rangers appear poised to end Celtic's nine-year grip on the Scottish top-flight, Antwerp find themselves 14 points adrift of holders Club Brugge in the Belgian equivalent ahead of Sunday's trip to face Standard Liege.
"They are flying high in the league," Gerrard said. "They are second in a strong league for a reason.
"My focus hasn't been too much on Antwerp up until now, but I know they've got a striker suspended for Thursday and one about to come back from injury. I know there has been a managerial change since the draw was made.
"It's a really good tie for us. It will be tough, but we are ready."
Gerrard said Rangers will "do our best" to go further in the competition than last season, when they were knocked out at the last-16 stage by Bayer Leverkusen.
"We want to commit to every game," he said. "We've got the numbers in the squad and the quality to do it."
Strikers Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe will return to Thursday's squad after missing through suspension a win over Kilmarnock that Gerrard described as a big improvement on last weekend's draw with Hamilton Academical.
"The group is a lot more healthy than it was a few weeks back - we've got options to pick from," he added.
"The players should be really excited now and embrace what's in front of them, go and be the best version of themselves. If they do, they have a wonderful opportunity to turn this season into a success."