McCulloch in no doubt Rangers will succeed

The Scottish champions missed out on a place in the last 16 after finishing behind Manchester United and Valencia in Group C, despite some credible performances following a dismal showing in the competition last year.

Although not enough to secure their passage to the knockout stages, their efforts secured a place in the last 32 of the Europa League, with Walter Smith's men set to find out who they face in tomorrow's draw.

Rangers progressed to the final of the UEFA Cup in 2008 and McCulloch sees no reason why they cannot enjoy further success on the European stage, while defending their Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League title.

He said: "We wanted to make amends for last season when we started well and then really flopped a bit after a positive beginning.

"This season, with a different formation, I think we have done really well to achieve what we have done in the competition.

"We're just happy to have got third and hopefully the draw will be kind to us now and we can put a bit of a run together after Christmas."

Rangers are unseeded for the draw but McCulloch has no fears about the standard of opposition they could face or the fact that the first leg will be at Ibrox.

He said: "When you're down to this stage of a European competition you're always going to get a difficult game so we don't have to worry too much about that.

"It doesn't really matter who you get because if you want to do well in the competition you're going to have to overcome some good teams."