Giovanni van Bronckhorst details importance of Aberdeen triumph as Rangers boss faces defensive injury sweat

Giovanni van Bronckhorst is confident his Rangers side can replicate their “lightening” pace produced in their 4-1 demolition of Aberdeen when they host Ajax in the club’s Champions League closer.

The Ibrox side face the Dutch outfit in their last group stage encounter in a match that provides the final opportunity to avoid ending their campaign without a single point following a run of bruising results in Group A.

Van Bronckhorst’s men staged an emphatic comeback against the Dons after conceding the opening goal on Saturday, with Antonio Colak, John Lundstram, James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos rounding off a dominant success.

The under fire Light Blues boss required a big performance from his team and his players displayed flashes of their best aggressive and attacking football to help ease the pressure building on him.

“We needed a win for so many reasons,” Van Bronckhorst admitted. “Of course, you know when you drop points last week and then losing in Naples on Wednesday, you need a performance to keep going and to make sure you continue on a very positive track. We did and so in that way this brings so many good things for our team.

“We wanted a very good positive start, really aggressive, I think we did that. After conceding the first goal we kept going the same way, very positive, very quick passing. To play at home against Aberdeen and have 70 per cent of the ball and 35 shots on goal that is a really dominant performance and I am really pleased with it.

“Ajax is a different competition, it is Champions League, so we are ready to get the first points of the campaign. A 90 minute performance like we had will give us a chance against a quality opponent. If we win the game, we will have three points like Ajax, which shows you the strength of the group.”

Van Bronkhorst is facing a defensive crisis ahead of Tuesday night’s clash against the Eredivisie champions after the loss of Ridvan Yilmaz and Ben Davies to injury at the weekend.

Centre-back Davies was absent from training this morning after picking up a knock in the early stages against Aberdeen, while left-back Yilmaz is expected to be ruled out for a number of weeks after limping off inside the opening 10 minutes.

Van Bronckhorst said on Saturday: “Ridvan felt his hamstring. I think he was decelerating in the box and he felt it straight away. I think he will be out for a couple of weeks. With Ben, it was his groin. He had a moment at the beginning of the game but could continue to half-time, but I didn’t want to take any risks with him (after that). We will see how he is and assess it.”

Connor Goldson, John Souttar and Filip Helander currently front a growing list of injury problems, with Ryan Jack, Tom Lawrence and Inais Hagi also sidelined until after the World Cup break.