Davis hopes Naismith can continue scoring streak

The Scotland international won a dream move to his boyhood heroes from Kilmarnock three seasons ago but injuries, most notably a ruptured cruciate ligament that sidelined him for eight months, have hampered his career.

However, he has hit top form in recent weeks, scoring four in his last five games including the winner against Bursaspor on matchday two at Ibrox which left the Light Blues with four points from their first two Group C games.

Naismith, 24, also scored in the 4-1 home win over Motherwell at the weekend and Davis is hoping to see more of the same against the highly-rated Spanish side.

"Steven has been brilliant for us - he has been doing a great job for the team," the Northern Ireland international said.

"Everyone can see how important he has been. Not only is he scoring goals but he is also setting them up.

"I'm really delighted for him because he has had a tough time, with injuries and things, since he came to the club.

"This is his best run of form and hopefully it can continue for a long time."

Davis believes fellow Irishman Kyle Lafferty, who got his chance again following the injury to striker Nikica Jelavic, has also hit form at the right time.

He said: "I think Kyle has started to show his true form and the qualities we all knew he had. Although he didn't score on Saturday, he put in a really good performance.

"Probably his recent hat-trick in the Co-op Cup did him the world of good in terms of confidence and that's a big thing for any player."

Rangers have already gathered two points more than they finished with in last season's disastrous Champions League campaign where they ended up bottom of a group which included Sevilla, Stuttgart and Unirea Urziceni.

Manager Walter Smith said: "We have managed to get off to a good start, better than last year, and we have had to work extremely hard to get the four points."