Rangers’ Champions League bid on hold to focus on Premiership – Leon Balogun

Leon Balogun has stressed that Rangers’ Champions League ambitions have to be put on hold to focus on their cinch Premiership game against Ross County on Saturday.

The Light Blues drew 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their play-off at Ibrox on Tuesday night with the crucial return game against the Dutch side in Eindhoven next Wednesday night.

However, Balogun, who returned for a second spell at the Ibrox club in the summer, insists all attention must be on the match against the Staggies, especially since the Govan side lost in their first league game of the season against Kilmarnock, which preceded a home victory over Livingston.

Asked if the performance against PSV was more like Rangers, the 35-year-old defender said: “You have to park that. We have to try to play to our best ability tomorrow.

“I think you saw a massive improvement against PSV, especially the second half.

“There’s bits to take from that game that we have to use going forward.

“But Ross County is always a tough game. They always make it difficult for teams and we know we will face a tough challenge there.

“Their start to the season has probably been a mixed bag but a strong performance against Celtic (2-4), so we definitely have to be ready and up for a fight before we think about wanting to play and force our game on to them.”