Philippe Clement needed every one of his Rangers players to be at their very best to give Tottenham Hotspur a game.
The manager has seen a bit of a revival from his squad of late but there is still a long way to go in terms of fully persuading the fans that a corner has been turned.
At the heart of the improvement has been Nicolas Raskin with Clement loving and early involvement for Rangers.
Nicolas Raskin earns Rangers manager plaudits
After a scare in the first minute, the Light Blues settled into a raucous Ibrox atmosphere, played at a fast tempo and gave their Premier League opponents little time on the ball.
Putting his team on the front foot was Raskin, first by bodying Rodrigo Bentacur and then by harassing James Maddison into running the ball out of play.
It was a moment that saw Raskin earn the praise and a few words of encouragement from his manager and a pat on the back of the head to send him on the way.
It’s a far cry from when Raskin was getting dropped entirely from Rangers squads.
Raskin explains Rangers return to form
Raskin has been in stunning form for Rangers and has put his return to fitness down to a positive change off the pitch:
“Myself? You know, I was a bit asking myself questions at the time because I’ve never really been injured before.
And when I came I started to have four injuries in one and a half years. So I was thinking I’m going to do something wrong to have those injuries right now.
“So, I think a bit about it and I thought maybe I gained a bit too much weight, too powerful.
“So, I just work on my weight and try to put it low to be lighter and to avoid all those small injuries. And it works good for me so I just continue with that. I took a chef to prepare me some meal at home so I can eat good in the evening.”
