Driven Rangers eye up Valencia scalp

Maurice Edu says a desire to prove their doubters wrong is driving Rangers on as they aim to continue their unbeaten start to their Champions League campaign when they face Valencia at Ibrox on Wednesday.

The Glasgow giants sit joint top of Group C having picked up four points from their opening two fixtures.

Walter Smith’s men followed up a goalless draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford by collecting their first Champions League win in nearly three years when they defeated Bursaspor at Ibrox three weeks ago.

It is a vast improvement from last season’s appearance in Europe’s elite competition when Rangers collected just two points and lost all three home games.

And American midfielder Edu says his teammates are happy to silence the critics with their impressive start to Group C.

“When the Champions League draw was made I know a lot of people counted us out but with the squad we have, I felt it was possible to do something special. So far, we’re on track,” Edu said.

“We’re in a good position and it would be foolish to get too far ahead of ourselves but we have belief and know what we’re capable of achieving.

“We need to be that way and you can’t go into games counting yourself out before kick-off.

“If we stick together and stay united, the potential is there for something special in the Champions League this season.”

The absence of Lee McCulloch through injury means Edu is likely to get the nod to start against Valencia in the centre of midfield.

And the American says he is ready for the challenge having missed last season’s European campaign due to a knee injury.

“Having played a few games for USA recently and most of the games for Rangers this season, I feel like I’m ready for it,” the midfielder said.

“It’ll be a big test against Valencia but we’ll all be up for it at Ibrox. We’re in a good position in the Champions League and we want to keep that going.

“To get a win at the end of last month – something which we hadn’t done for a while in Europe – was special and the fans enjoyed it.

“We want to do the same against Valencia. We know they’ll be tough opponents because they’re doing well in La Liga at the moment but we’ll be ready for the challenge.”

James Beattie, John Fleck and Nikica Jelavic will all miss out on the match through injury.

Valencia sit just one point behind Rangers in Group C after demolishing Bursaspor in their first match before Manchester United snatched a late winner in Spain to deny them a point.

They warmed up for their visit to Scotland with a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona that knocked them off the top spot in La Liga while Rangers continued their 100 percent winning start to the Scottish Premier League season with a 4-1 victory against Motherwell.

Pablo Hernandez, who netted against Barcelona, was part of the Spanish national side that narrowly defeated a Scotland team that included six Rangers players last week.

And he warned his teammates they will have to play well if they are to beat keeper Allan McGregor, who put in a man-of-the-match performance against the World champions at Hampden.

“He (McGregor) made some amazing saves, it was a fantastic performance,” Hernandez said.

“Certainly had it not been for him we would have scored a few more goals on Tuesday.

“But obviously he was one of a few Rangers players playing for Scotland and who have been playing at that level and at European level for some time, so it’s going to be a very difficult match.

“It could be pretty similar to the game between Scotland and Spain, in the sense that they’ll be more physical and will battle hard, while we may have more possession.

“But, in any case, it’ll be interesting to come up against these players again.”