Source: PA
Weir optimistic despite late leveller
Rangers captain Davie Weir believes there is all to play for in their Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon despite suffering the blow of losing a late away goal.
Rangers took control of the first leg at Ibrox early in the second half and opened the scoring in the 66th minute when Steven Whittaker rose brilliantly to head home a Vladimir Weiss corner.
But Matias Fernandez headed an 89th-minute equaliser to ensure Sporting will reach the last 16 if they keep a clean sheet in the return leg in Portugal next week.
However, Weir believes Rangers will create chances in the Portuguese capital, encouraged by the fact that Kyle Lafferty had two decent opportunities after the equaliser but saw goalkeeper Rui Patricio block both times.
The defender said: "To lose a goal as late as we did after managing to get in front and improving as the game went on, obviously the overall feeling is disappointment. There is still all to play for, I don't think there is a great deal between the teams.
"I'm sure they will feel they have the upper hand now but I still think we have every chance in the tie. I think it will be the team that plays better on the night will go through and we have to make sure that's us. The fact we created chances when there was so little time left gives us hope."
