Rangers given favourable draw - but must beat Poles first

Former Queen of the South goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson lost nine goals against Red Star Belgrade [Getty Images] They have to beat Jagiellonia Bialystok first, but Rangers' path to the Europa League is now clearer after Monday's draw for the play-offs. As the team with the second highest coefficient in the whole of qualifying behind Benfica, Derek McInnes' men should be confident of making it through. Jagiellonia finished third behind Lech Poznan and Gornik Zabrze in the Polish top flight and both of those lost in their Champions League qualifiers last week. However, Lech famously let a 4-1 lead over AGF Aarhus of Denmark slip at home before exiting on penalties, while Gornik were only beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Fenerbahce. And Jagiellonia sit second in the Ekstraklasa on goal difference behind Legia Warsaw after two games, beating Motor Lublin 2-1 away from home on Friday. Should Rangers progress against the Poles, they should find the play-off round that bit easier given they have been paired with the winners of the tie between Northern Irish champions Larne and Iberia Tbilisi of Georgia. Larne, who won the title for the third time after finishing three points clear of Coleraine, did manage to reach the Conference League group stage for the first time two seasons ago. However, after beating Tre Fiori of San Marino in the first round of Champions League qualifying this season, they were thrashed 9-0 on aggregate by Red Star Belgrade. Iberia 1999 are lower ranked than Larne having won just four of their 12 European ties since making their debut in 2019. They won their domestic title for a second year running last year and currently lead Rustavi by two points after 19 games. Should Rangers lose to Jagiellonia, they will again fancy their chances against Jablonec of Czech Republic or RFS of Latvia in a Conference League play-off. Jablonec finished fifth domestically last season and have only once got beyond the qualifiers, reaching the Conference League group stage four years ago after losing 7-2 on aggregate to Celtic in their earlier Europa League qualifier. RFS finished second behind Riga in their domestic league last season and currently sit joint top with Auda but with a game in hand. They lost home and away to Hearts in the 2022-23 Conference League and reached the Europa League two seasons ago but lost to Hamrun Spartans of Malta in the Conference League play-off last season.