Rangers v Athletic Bilbao UEFA Europa League kick-off match has been rescheduled recently due to…

Rangers will need to turn their dreadful home form around as they look to keep their Europa League dream alive in Thursday’s quarter-final first leg against Athletic Bilbao.

Barry Ferguson’s men progressed to the last eight following a penalty shootout win over Fenerbahce, yet that came after a 2-0 defeat on the night that levelled the tie at 3-3 on aggregate.

That loss formed part of a winless run at Ibrox that was stretched to five games on Saturday as Rangers were beaten 2-0 by Hibernian.

It is a run that has also comprised of losses to Queen’s Park, St. Mirren and Motherwell, with the latest slip-up leading Ferguson to criticise his players for failing to motivate themselves outside of Old Firm and European games.

“That’s not a Rangers team; it’s miles from being a Rangers team,” said Ferguson. “I’m fed up of repeating myself – European games and Celtic games are the easiest games to get up for.”

Rangers should, therefore, theoretically have no issue getting themselves emotionally ready for the visit of their LaLiga opponents, and it will likely two outstanding performances for Ferguson’s men to pull off the upset.

Athletic dropped points at the weekend as they were held to a second successive 0-0 draw, settling for a stalemate with fellow Champions League challengers Villarreal.

While Athletic’s league form has tailed off, the Basque side having won just one of their last five LaLiga games, they were impressive in turning around a 2-1 first-leg deficit against Roma by beating the Serie A club 3-1 at San Mames in the second leg.

In Nico Williams, Athletic have one of the hottest properties in European football, while his brother Inaki has scored five goals in the Europa League this season.