Carlos Carvalhal scoffs at Rangers 'fear' question as Braga boss issues bullish on air Europa League verdict

The boss laughed off concerns over some of the individual stars ahead of their European first leg.

Boss Carlos Carvalhal has laughed off any suggestion that Braga "fear" Rangers heading into the Europa League quarter-final.

The Portuguese side come into the tie in top form after seeing off Monaco in the last round and beating Champions League quarter-finalists Benfica on Saturday.

Rangers will look to use the first leg of the clash to bounce back from their derby defeat to Celtic.

Carvalhal was in the Ibrox stands to watch Gio van Bronckhorst 's men slip further off the pace in the Premiership title race.

Having taken in the 2-1 defeat, he was in high spirits heading into Thursday's first leg.

When asked by Jim White on talkSport if he feared the likes of Aaron Ramsey and James Tavernier, Carvalhal laughed: "No, no fear.

"I knew lots of the players from when I was in England. Some were in the Championship, some were in Premier League but (there is) no fear.

"We understand the game and the individuals are important and we will care about one or the other, but overall we look at the collective things they have as a dynamic.

"Like all the teams they have weak points that we will try to exploit. We will try to prepare for the game like that.

"They have individuals but the collective is the most important. We want our collective to beat the collective of Rangers."

He also brushed off talks of taking advantage of a "wounded animal" after the defeat to Celtic - insisting Braga only play one way.

He said: "We will try (to take advantage), we are a balanced team and we know what we must do.

"We have something new that we put on the pitch. The players understand what we want on the pitch.

"If we play Benfica, if we play Rangers, if we play a team from the second division we want to win and play the same way."