RANGERS midfielder Kevin Thomson reckoned skipper Barry Ferguson was "special" last night.

The former Hibs player - making his European debut for Gers - said today: "Barry's performance shows he is just as special pushing on as sitting in the middle of the park. We had a decent balance and had a bit more drive in the team.

"Barry always wants to push on and he has always had the talent, the touches and awareness to score.

"It was great sitting behind him, protecting things and allowing him to create and score goals." One by One

McGREGOR Sent-off for an off-the-ball incident with De Bruno as all eyes were on Ferguson celebrating Rangers' third goal.

HUTTON Tried his best to get forward and support Burke. Never troubled at the back.

HEMDANI Returned to centre of defence in the absence of Karl Svensson and helped keep it tight.

WEIR Once again a rock at the heart of the defence. Usual service from veteran.

MURRAY Exposed badly in the first-leg but Hapoel couldn't get at him last night. Also supported well.

THOMSON Handed his Ibrox debut and performed well considering he was only 60% fit.

FERGUSON Scored the opening goal to settle the nerves and made sure of the win with the third. An inspirational display. Just what you expect from him these days.

RAE A surprise starter but one of Rangers' better players on the night and almost scored a wonder volley from a corner kick.

BURKE Scared the life out of Hapoel with his mazy runs. Best performance in quite some time.

NOVO Sacrificed late in the game as a result of McGregor's ordering off but caused Hapoel no end of problems with his pace.

BOYD Took full advantage of a gift to score Rangers' second of the night and played well enough before being replaced by Prso.

SUBS Prso missed a good chance to score but his introduction gave the place a lift. Klos was forced to pull the gloves on again in bizarre fashion. Adam brought on in injury time for Burke to kill a few seconds and ended up scoring the fourth.

FANS As it's all they've got left this season they were determined to make the most of it and created an electrifying atmosphere.

SMITH Had to tinker with line-up because of injury but got things spot on by exposing Hapoel on the flanks. Fan forum

I HAVE total confidence in Stefan Klos as a stopper but his kicks were a bit dodgy last night. Always were, though. Bobby, via email THE Rangers fans were magnificent last night. Glad to see the Union Flag and Saltire side by side all over the ground. Hugh 72, Linwood THE BBC need to buy themselves a few more cameras so they can cover games properly. Michael