KYLE Lafferty sat in the City of Manchester Stadium only three months ago as a Rangers supporter, revelling in the occasion of the club he has adored since childhood taking part in their first European final for 36 years.
Tonight, in the far less grand surroundings of the S Darius and S Gireno Stadium, he is desperate to avoid his competitive debut as a Rangers player coinciding with what would be arguably the worst European defeat of their history.
Lafferty, wh
ose performance at Ibrox on Saturday was one of the few positives Walter Smith could take from the 4-0 friendly loss to Liverpool, is poised to take his official bow for his new club in the second leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie against Kaunas. After the goalless first leg in Glasgow six days ago, Rangers stand on the precipice of complete elimination from European football this season before the new SPL campaign has even kicked off.
It is not the kind of scenario Lafferty had in mind when he made his £3.75 million move from Burnley this summer and the Northern Ireland international striker is all too aware of how his debut will be remembered should the worst happen this evening.
"Everyone knows how big a club Rangers are and we know how massive this game is," said Lafferty. "If I'm involved, it would be a big game for me to make my debut in and I certainly don't want to be in the game that puts Rangers out of Europe. "We battered Kaunas in the second half last week, so if we look at that and go and play the same way here, there's no hesitation in saying we will win. The lads are all going to be up for it, the gaffer will make sure everyone is.
"I went to the Uefa Cup final last season with a few mates from where I'm from in Northern Ireland. I managed to get us tickets and it stands out as a memory of watching Rangers. I knew when I joined Rangers that it would give me a chance to play in the biggest competition in the world for club football and that's what I want.
"Last season has gone now, it's all about what we've got to do this season. As everyone could see last year, Rangers can hold their own in Europe. We're not worried about Kaunas, because we know we can go out and beat them."
Lafferty was deployed in a wide left position by manager Walter Smith against Liverpool and the 20-year-old could be asked to reprise it tonight in what is likely to be a 4-5-1 formation spearheaded by Kenny Miller.
"I'd be happy to play left midfield, or anywhere else the gaffer asks me to," he said. "As long as I am in the team and doing a job, I would be happy. I'll play anywhere for Rangers. The gaffer says he bought me as a striker, but if I have to play out wide in some games then that wouldn't bother me. We have a lot of strikers here just now, but that will bring the best out of everyone. The ones not involved will just have to work harder in training and prove to the gaffer that he has made a mistake by not selecting them."
For all that they were laboured in their efforts against Kaunas at Ibrox, Rangers were able nonetheless to create two clear-cut scoring chances against a well-drilled defence who sat increasingly deeper as the night went on. It is easy to suspect Jose Couceiro's team performed as well as they possibly can last week and that any significant improvement on the part of Rangers should prove good enough to take them into the third qualifying round.
"I don't know if last week was as good as Kaunas can play or not," said Smith. "I just know that we can play better than we did at Ibrox and that's what we have to concentrate on. It's all about the level of our own performance, never mind anyone else's.
"It's not a matter of approaching the game with fear. It's a matter of approaching it with confidence and knowing that, if we play well enough, we will go through.
"It's an awkward place to come and play and to make it more difficult they are up and running in their season while we are not. All that stuff is there, but we have to overcome any problems we are having at the present moment if we are going to go through.
"The players have got that added bit of experience after what they achieved in Europe last season but I really don't think it comes down to that at the present moment. For us, it's all about getting up to a competitive level because we have not managed to do that yet."
The full article contains 831 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
