We are raring to go – Joe Rothwell excited for Rangers’ Premiership opener

Joe Rothwell insists Rangers are “raring to go” ahead of their William Hill Premiership opener against Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday.

The Light Blues progressed to the Champions League third qualifying round against Viktoria Plzen after a 3-1 aggregate win over Panathinaikos in Athens on Wednesday night.

Midfielder Rothwell, who joined the club in the summer from Bournemouth, having spent last season on loan at Leeds, is confident Russell Martin’s squad have recovered for the start of their league campaign.

The 30-year-old said: “Getting the result we wanted obviously helps and we have had a couple of days to recover now, and we are raring to go.

“It is a bit strange playing European games before the league season has even started, but it has been good.

“It gives us a chance to go out there and put the things we have been working on into practice.

“It becomes real because obviously those are games you need to win and thankfully we managed to do that over the two legs, but now our focus is fully on tomorrow.

“We know as players it is going to be massive and obviously getting off to a winning start is what we want to do.

“It is going to be a fast and erratic start to the games, and it is down to us to take control and build some momentum as quickly as we can.

“Everyone is going to want to beat us, so we want to go out there and put on a real show but ultimately it is a result-based business, and we are going there to win the game.”