When the ultimate whistle blew on a blisteringly sizzling Athens night time the place Rangers had at factors been each tremendously valiant and desperately susceptible, Russell Martin’s aspect had in the end received what they got here for.

When the draw for the Champions League second spherical qualifier threw up Panathinaikos, it seemed probably the most hazardous of first steps to the league section, and Rangers rode their luck from all the best way from Glasgow to Greece.

And but whereas they’ve some Greek wastefulness and Jack Butland heroics to thank for his or her passage into the following spherical, the character demonstrated by a workforce within the early days of an overhaul by the brand new head coach was to be admired as they drew 1-1 on the night time to progress 3-1 on combination.

Martin had requested his gamers to be resilient within the face of the Panathinaikos onslaught, and whereas different areas of their sport would have been regarding, they delivered that in spades.

“We are going to get higher. The group will develop a lot from this,” Martin mentioned after the sport. That is his problem now, so as to add the standard to the foundations of the character his workforce has proven over these two testing encounters.

“That is the large factor for me with Russell Martin, is that he thrives on the coaching floor,” former Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell mentioned on BBC Sportsound.

“The longer he has together with his gamers, the higher they are going to get.

“This Rangers workforce confirmed a little bit of character. It is all constructive for the time being, they simply have to preserve this momentum going.”