Steven Davis fears Rangers' Euro exit will mean January sales at Ibrox

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 22:44

CLOUDS of doom hung over Ibrox yesterday, not for the first time this season, as Rangers came to terms with an early exit from European competition, with midfielder Steven Davis fearful that Walter Smith's fragile squad will be pruned rather than reinforced during the January transfer window.

Stuttgart's Cacau battles Steven Davis during Rangers' 2 - 0 Champions League defeat

Rangers' 2-0 defeat to Stuttgart at Ibrox on Tuesday, their third home loss in Champions League Group G, left them bottom of the table with two points from five games and without even the consolation of a Europa League spot.

The loss of around 2 million from failing to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, notwithstanding ticket money and hospitality sales from the home gate, represents another blow to a club already around 31million in debt and looking for a buyer.

And with no compensatory cash from the Europa League, Davis hopes the European exit will not hasten the departure of sellable assets such as Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra, who has blotted his copy book at Ibrox by failing to return on time from international duty three times, the most recent of which led to him sitting on the bench against Stuttgart.

Asked if he feared players leaving in January, Davis said: "I hope not. That will probably be out of the manager's hands but hopefully we can keep this group together. I'm sure the manager would like to bring in a couple of players to freshen things up as well. But that will be down to the people who run the club."

Davis believes the Ibrox players need to get back into the Champions League as quickly as possible by retaining their SPL title.

"Obviously we want to retain the SPL championship and that is our focus now," the Northern Ireland international said.

"First and foremost, the league is our bread and butter and we have to get back to winning ways on Saturday at Aberdeen.

"It's great to be playing in European competitions and testing yourself against the quality players that you come up against. Having missed out last year, we got ourselves back in to European competition this year, so it is disappointing not to do well. But we have to focus on the domestic front, now that we are out of Europe."

Goalkeeper Allan McGregor, the only man to distinguish himself with a solid performance against Stuttgart, agreed:

"We need to forget about Europe now. It's on the back-burner because we have to get ready for Aberdeen."

He said: "We will certainly need to put on a better performance on Saturday and start with a better tempo and take the game to them.

"They are hard to beat up there because they always seem to raise their game when either of the Old Firm comes to town.

"I think they feel they have nothing to lose so they may as well have a go, so that makes it a difficult game. But we have got ourselves in front in the SPL and we want to stay there. It was a bit topsy-turvy last year but we want to stamp our authority on the league this year."