Ryan Kent outlines why his best Rangers performances have come in Europe as he explains domestic difficulties

Rangers winger Ryan Kent has produced some of his most effective displays this season in a Europa League run which sees the Scottish champions on the brink of sealing a quarter-final place.

Kent believes the tournament offers him greater scope to showcase his skills than is often the case in domestic matches where he finds himself more tightly marked by opponents.

“I think the level of opposition goes up, which tends to make the games a lot more open,” said the 25-year-old. “Both sets of teams want to play football.

"There is a lack of parking the bus and tripling up or doubling up on players. It gives me more opportunity to do what I do.

Rangers winger Ryan Kent is brought down by Slavoljub Srnic of Red Star Belgrade for the VAR-awarded penalty kick which opened the scoring for the Scottish champions in their 3-0 win at Ibrox last week. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

"Each player in the team probably raises their level a little bit more, given the opposition in these games.”

Rangers take a 3-0 lead into the second leg of their last 16 tie against Red Star Belgrade in Serbia on Thursday evening as they look to take the Ibrox club into the last eight of a European tournament for the first time in 14 years.

“I have mentioned before that after each year of participating in this competition that we have always wanted to improve on the previous year,” said Kent.

"That is no different for this year. We want to go as far as we can in this competition.

"We try to have as much confidence (as possible) going into every game and that will be no different going into this and hopefully the next round if we go there with the right mentality for this fixture.”

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