Burke sees a glimmer in the gloom

A place in the last 16 of the Champions' League ought to be savoured but there has been little for anyone at Ibrox to enjoy recently. On Wednesday night Rangers will look in the mirror and find a yellow version of themselves called Villarreal.

The Spanish club's rapid descent in La Liga since qualifying in December at the expense of Manchester United, has had echoes of the situation which forced Alex McLeish to announce last week that he is leaving at the end of the season. Villarreal, nicknamed The Yellow Submarine, were third before Christmas, but have sunk to eighth, which gives a flicker of optimism for Rangers after the wretched domestic campaign.

The only exception to the Ibrox malaise has been the remarkable Champions' League adventure, although if it had not been for Chris Burke, Wednesday's glittering occasion might not have been possible.

When Burke came off the bench in Portugal in November against Porto, Rangers were sliding out of the tournament and McLeish was on the verge of being jettisoned. The winger set up Ross McCormack's equaliser with seven minutes left, providing a platform that allowed the struggling Scottish champions to gather another vital point from Internazionale to squeeze into the knockout phase.

Yet the 21-year-old Glaswegian knows that achievement is already eroded by the massive 21-point gap held by Celtic in the Scottish Premier League after last Sunday's derby and the early exit from the Scottish Cup.

"We want to bounce back from the Celtic game," said Burke this week. "It's not nice losing any game, but especially one against Celtic. We have to bounce back and the Villarreal game is ideal." Villarreal's own problems have heartened Burke. "We definitely believe we can beat them," he said. "Anything can happen in the knockout stage. Liverpool showed that last season.

"We will need to play to our best ability to go through. It's the main stage everybody wants to play on. When you walk out and hear that music, the shivers go down your spine. Everybody watches it throughout the world and that's where you want to be." Burke's form over the last two months has been one of the few things to give McLeish comfort as he plans his own exit strategy. It is ironic Burke should be synonymous with endeavour and industry because two season ago, when Rangers were last in the Champions' League, the player spent much of it in bed with a post-viral problem.

Now he is the picture of rude health, inside and out. "My confidence has not suffered with the defeats in the last few weeks. In football you have to deal with pressure like this. You're not going to be on a high all the time. There will be times when you are low and that makes you appreciate the highs all the more. The way I look at it, I have to impress the manager in every game to make sure I'm in the team for the following week."

However, there is one item from Rangers' past that could come back to haunt them. Diego Forlan, now Villarreal's top scorer, faced Rangers in 2003 when they came to Old Trafford and netted the opener in Manchester United's 3-0 win. A repeat would make Ibrox very forlorn.