BARRY FERGUSON insists Rangers are ready to dabble in the dark arts in a bid to outfox Jose Mourinho again.
The interim Ibrox boss knows the master of the mind games will do whatever it takes to win, as Fenerbahce attempt to overturn a 3-1 deficit from last week’s first leg.
Rangers interim manager Barry Ferguson during his pre-match press conference[/caption]
With a place in the last eight of the Europa League up for grabs, Ferguson is urging his players to fight fire with fire and get nasty.
Asked if a little mischief-making could be on the cards, he said: “We need to be better at those things.
“I’ve mentioned that to my players, that sometimes we’re too nice. We can’t be nice all the time.
“I expect Fenerbahce to be a bit like that, but I expect us to be a bit like that as well.
“Fenerbahce will be hurting. I know that, my players know it.
“We spoke about that over the last couple of days. We’re prepared in the right manner. There might be one or two tweaks.
“We’ll just need to wait and see, but it’s been a good three days.
“That’s the first time I’ve really had the players to go and work on certain things that I believe we can improve on.
“They have worked ever so hard, so that’s all I can ask of them as the manager.”
Ferguson is relishing the prospect of going toe to toe with Mourinho for the second time in a week.
Gers stunned the Turks by ending their 18-match unbeaten run in Istanbul seven days ago.
Yet ever since that win in the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Ferguson has been at pains to point out the tie isn’t over.
The former Treble-winning Rangers captain, who must decide whether to deploy skipper James Tavernier at centre-half again as part of a new-look back five, added: “I have huge respect for him.
“Jose’s won 26 trophies in a number of different countries. He’s managed at the highest level.
“It’s a real challenge for me — but I’m not scared of the challenge.
“Standing on the touchline with him was an honour for me.
“Jose is a top-class manager and he’s got a really good team. He would have been hurting, I know that for a fact.
“You’ll see a different Fenerbahce here, there is no doubt about that.
“We’ve worked the last three days on different scenarios that I think will happen within the game.
“We just need to wait and see what happens come 8pm, but I’ve got every faith in my group of players.”
Whether Fergie likes it or not, Gers are now favourites to progress to the quarter-finals, where Athletic Bilbao or Roma lie in wait.
Ferguson admitted his stars must now handle that added pressure of playing at home.
He said: “I would rather have another couple of goals. But it is what it is, that’s the pressure.
“You’ve got to handle pressure when you’re at Rangers — and that’s something the squad have not handled too well at times.
“It’s game that we have to go into and take on head on, because what an opportunity we’ve got to go into the last eight.
“But we’ve also got to be respectful that we’re coming up against a very good team.”
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