Rangers still 'a work in progress' but Russell Martin keen to stress positives after getting reign off to a flier

Russell Martin is experienced enough to know Rangers’ Champions League second qualifying round tie against Panathinaikos is far from over - despite watching his new-look side secure a 2-0 first leg win at Ibrox.

Sublime second half strikes from youngster Findlay Curtis and summer signing Djedi Gassama came either side of Giorgos Vagiannidis’ red card, having found themselves weathering an early storm against the Greeks.

The result puts the Light Blues in pole position to qualify for the next round, and while the performance was far from perfect, head coach Martin saw plenty of aspects to be positive about as he moved to alleviate some tactical concerns, particularly in the first-half.

Speaking on Premier Sports, the former Southampton boss said: “You have to trust the work. We work on things for a reason and if they’re right some of the time, they’re right all of the time. For some of our players to feel that tonight and come through it, it’ll be incredible for them.

“The aim of the game is to win and keep a clean sheet. To experience the atmosphere is great. The fans were amazing. I said before it wasn’t all going to be easy and there may be a few scary, bumpy moments, but the fans stayed with the team incredibly well during those moments early in the first half.

“We got better as the game went on. Even before the sending off, we were really starting to grow and just play with a bit more care and detail. So there’s lots to like, and lots to work on. We’re very much a work in progress, but for a start, it was really good.”

‘We can’t be comfortable’ on two-goal lead

Asked how sweet it feels to be taking a two-goal cushion over to Athens next week, Martin replied: “Until the tie is done, we can’t be comfortable. We had a really good first half (tonight), now we have to go and compete there, improve from this game and get better. I’m confident we will be.”