JAMES TAVERNIER has set his sights on the Champions League group stages as Rangers look to pick up where they left off ahead of the new campaign.

Steven Gerrard's side continue their pre-season schedule with friendly fixtures against Brighton and Real Madrid this weekend before kicking off their Premiership title defence against Livingston.

Malmo or HJK Helsinki will lie in wait the following week as Rangers attempt to move within one tie of a place in the lucrative group stages of the Champions League this term.

And captain Tavernier is determined to bring more success to Ibrox after leading the Light Blues to a historic 55th league flag and Rangers' first major silverware in a decade.

"It was such an amazing achievement that the team and the club achieved last season," Tavernier told Sky Sports. "But that is in the past now and we are fully focused on the season ahead.

"It is ours to defend now but we just have to be more relentless this season, [start] where we left off and start strong at the start of the season. That is what we will be looking to do.

"You can obviously take the lessons from it. You saw our clean sheet record last season, that is going to be hard to beat, but that is our full mindset for this season.

"We need to carry on the standards that we left last season and push on even more, not just in the league sense but in the domestic cups and hopefully the Champions League.

"We have done really well in the Europa and it is a big stage that we all want to be playing at, especially on the nights at Ibrox with the fans coming back to the stadiums, which will be great.

"But we have got to be fully focused, especially on the two friendlies that we have got coming up and then Livingston. Then we can fully focus on the Champions League qualifier.

"We always take it game by game, step by step. That is our mindset but we want to reach the group stages."