Ryan Kent says a lack of expectation has helped Rangers in Europe; the winger believes they can complete the journey and become Europa League champions; the Ibrox side face Eintracht Frankfurt in the final in Seville on May 18
Tuesday 17 May 2022 15:52, UK
Rangers winger Ryan Kent believes they are destined for Europa League glory after the "beautiful struggle" to get to this stage.
The Ibrox side have reached a European final for the first time in 14 years and Kent believes the lack of expectation has helped them to the verge of their ultimate aim.
"I don't think anyone going into this season would have expected Rangers to reach the final of this competition," he said.
"It's a platform where we can really showcase ourselves under less pressure. All that changes now going into the final.
"Everybody is expecting us to go and win, ourselves included."
The 25-year-old moved to Ibrox from Liverpool in 2018 and has been striving to be a part of Rangers' success story since.
"This has been a journey this team has been on for four years since we beat Ufa to get into the competition," he said.
"That journey has been a beautiful struggle, each year we've wanted to progress further than the previous year and we've managed to do that getting to the final.
"On a personal level it's something I've always strived for in my career, to try and get to the top of European football, and it's an opportunity I'll be relishing."
Rangers' famous victory over tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund was the moment the players started to believe they could win the Europa League this season.
On that win Kent said: "The players came away from that game saying, 'at what point to they start taking us seriously?'
"We beat a great team in Dortmund and that gave us the confidence to starting thinking you can go all the way.
"Without a doubt it's the biggest game of our careers, but I don't think we'll let the occasion get the better of us.
"We'll go into the game with the same mindset as we've had throughout the competition. We've come up against some top-class opposition and nothing changes going into the final.
"Without being naïve we are going in there to win, that's for sure."
