Rangers boss Steven Gerrard reveals why he substituted two of his stars against Progres Niederkorn

Borna Barisic, right, was removed at the half.

Barisic was removed at the half after being booked in the opening minutes, while Arfield made way for Greg Docherty as the match entered its closing stages.

Having witnessed his side rack up an astonishing 12 red cards last term, Gerrard was eager to avoid disciplinary problems as they look to reach the Europa League group stages for the second season running.

Borna Barisic, right, was removed at the half.

After seeing his side earn passage to the next round with a 0-0 draw in Luxembourg as they held on to their 2-0 first leg advantage, Gerrard said: “I took Borna off at half-time because I can’t take any risks with him.

“I have to think of team instead of the individual and it was the same with Scotty Arfield when he got booked.

“I can’t have any ill-discipline because I didn’t trust the officials tonight.

“The way the officials were tonight there was every chance there could have been a second yellow and I don’t need that moving forward.

“Borna’s booking wasn’t even a foul, the guy just ran into him but they were just constantly fouling all night long and it was difficult to get into a rhythm, especially when everything was against you."