Giovanni Van Bronckhorst calls on his players to show hunger against Livingston

Rangers v Sparta Prague – UEFA Europa League – Group A – Ibrox Stadium
(Image credit: Andrew Milligan)

Rangers manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst has demanded the same hunger from his players at Livingston after opening his reign with a major European win.

The former Netherlands, Feyenoord, Rangers, Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder was used to winning as a player and he led his first team to the Dutch title as manager.

Winning is something the Dutchman has become used to during his career and he acknowledged that the drive comes from within to maintain those standards.

Rangers defender Connor Goldson claimed some of his team-mates had lost their hunger after winning the league last season, in the wake of last Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final defeat by Hibernian.

The cup setback meant Rangers had won 13 of their 25 games this season but they bounced back to beat Sparta Prague 2-0 in the new manager’s first game in charge and seal their place in the Europa League knockout stages.

Sunday brings a very different challenge on the plastic pitch of Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Arena and Van Bronckhorst has made it clear he expects a consistency of approach.

“I am a coach and I was a player who was always competing at the top level,” he said. “A win was always normal.

“You had to win games, you had to win prizes. That’s the aim you have as a player but also for me as a manager.

“So my task is to make sure we keep that drive, that hunger, that passion to be successful. You have to have that every game.

“On Thursday we showed that but we need to show it on Sunday again because the Prague game is over and now we are looking forward to competing for the league again. We have to do it all over again.”