GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST expressed his pride at Rangers' performance as they saw off Sparta Prague at Ibrox.

The champions booked their place in the Europa League knockout rounds with a 2-0 victory on Thursday night.

Alfredo Morelos scored in either half to ensure Van Bronckhorst got his reign off to a winning start on debut as boss.

And the Dutchman reckons there was plenty of encouragement to take as his side produced an accomplished showing in Group A.

Van Bronckhorst said: “It was very positive.

“I think we had a very good performance today, for the whole 90 minutes.

“The first half was really good, we created a lot of chances, but we only scored once.

“I’m very proud of the team and how they reacted after Sunday.

“We only had two training sessions and I think they stuck to the game-plan really well.

“We created a lot of chances, we looked dangerous in the attacking areas.

“The second goal put us through to the next round and this was the ultimate goal for today.

“First for the win, but secondly that we could qualify for the knockout stages and we achieved that one.

“For us as a club we are involved in Europe after the winter break.

“It was very important. Keeping the zero today was very important after going 2-0 up.

“If they had scored a goal we wouldn’t have gone through. I think I am very proud of my team.

“The goals Morelos scored, the performance of our midfield players, they were all excellent.

“And then at the right time, McGregor makes a really good save so, again, overall it was a really good team performance.”