STUART McCALL says a draw won’t leave Rangers up the Greek — because their Euro away record is so good.
The Ibrox legend is the last Scottish boss to face Panathinaikos in the Champions League, when his Motherwell side were battered 5-0 on aggregate back in 2012.
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But he insists Rangers’ recent record away from home in Europe — where they have only lost two of their past nine road trips — can stand them in good stead in Russell Martin’s opening fixtures.
McCall, 61, now assistant boss at Preston, said: “I’ve seen plenty of Rangers in recent seasons, and whether it was under Steven Gerrard, Gio van Bronckhorst or Philippe Clement, the best results and performances have been the away games in Europe.
“Even Barry Ferguson had that great win at Fenerbahce in March.
“So of course they would like to win against Panathinaikos and go to Greece ahead.
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“But if it’s level, that wouldn’t be the worst result because they know they can go abroad and get results.
“It’s not win at all costs. As long as they are still in the tie after Tuesday, they will have a chance.
“The support is so important, though. They have to stay with the team. In my own experience, like back in 1992 when we played Marseille and were 2-0 down at home in the Champions League, the support stuck by us and we ended up getting it back to 2-2.”
McCall says Martin’s philosophy can work at Ibrox — but he needs a buy-in from his players.
He added: “I like Russell, I worked with him when I was involved on the coaching side with Scotland. He thinks deeply about the game and he’s shown that at Swansea and Southampton.
“He has a specific way he wants to play and that’s fine as long as the players buy into it.
“It CAN be successful but it needs to have everyone on board.
“I like some of his signings. I’ve seen Joe Rothwell down here and he’s a good player, but my only concern with him is, does it mean Nico Raskin’s going?
“I hope not because he’s one I’ve always liked — I looked at him with a view to bringing him to Sheffield United.
“If they have Raskin, Rothwell and Mohamed Diomande that’s a good midfield, with Connor Barron as back-up.
“The lad Thelo Aasgaard I saw bits of at Wigan and Luton and he’s also a good player. Same with Max Aarons, he should handle the Premiership fine.
“As is always the case, it’s about whether they have the attitude to deal with Scotland and the scrutiny that comes if you lose a couple.”
While McCall’s Well side shipped five to the Greeks 13 years ago, he still looks back at what might have been. He said: “It looks like a battering, but for most of the tie we’d held our own.
“We started well, could have been up, but lost a horrible free-kick goal, and another on the counter to make it 2-0.
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“Over there it was 0-0 at half-time and I remember saying to the players, ‘If we score, the whole tie changes’.
“But they scored soon after the restart and killed our hopes.”
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