Rangers dressing room hear Barry Ferguson warning loud and clear as one star vows ‘we have to prove him WRONG’

Leon Balogun admits Rangers will be relieved to escape their Ibrox turmoil as they head to Turkey this week.

The Rangers defender and his team-mates are still reeling after becoming the first Light Blues line-up to lose three home games in a row since 2012. They face setting a fresh unwanted record when they host Fenerbahce in next week’s Europa League last 16 return, where another defeat would see them become the FIRST EVER Gers side to lose four on the bounce at Ibrox.But before that, caretaker boss Barry Ferguson will lead the struggling side to Istanbul for the first-leg opener against Jose Mourinho’s Turks on Thursday. And Balogun believes the showdown at the famously ear-shattering Sukru Saracoglu Stadium will offer some respite from the furious bashing his side have been suffering back in Glasgow following back-to-back home defeats against Queen’s Park, St Mirren and Motherwell.

He said: “I think it’s a big opportunity for us on Thursday. It might actually help that we play the first game away after what happened domestically … and to help get supporters back on our side. But we need to make at least two massive steps forward from Saturday against Motherwell in order to get a result there.

“It probably helps that then we play European again straight after, a week later. So it’s a massive chance, a massive opportunity. And we really need to put everything into the game. We have to do it anyway. But now even more.”