Giovanni van Bronckhorst has called on his squad to demonstrate their character tonight.
If the result follows the path of other Champions League results the Ibrox boss won’t be left with much of a defence or justification for his own job.
Alongside the regular hammerings there is a growing impression that the Ibrox squad has chucked it, the minute they go behind there is no belief that things can be turned around.
The omens tonight look bleak for van Bronckhorst’s side, since losing 7-1 to Liverpool it would be a compliment to say that the three subsequent performances have been unconvincing.
Spotlighting the character of his players seems like a dangerous ploy, speaking last night the Dutchman told the Glasgow Times:
Character is very important tomorrow. You always need that in games, especially when you come off a draw at the weekend, but also the last games in the Champions League.
In parts of games we’ve played really well, but in the end all that matters is about the result. The character has to be there to get a result. If that’s there then we have a chance.
We are taking into account the strong opposition we are playing, but we have to go on the pitch and not be fearful, play the way we can and reach the level we can reach. Then we’ll see whether we have a positive result or not.
With a Champions League record of 1-16 anything less than losing four goals tonight will be spun as some sort of turnaround.