Jack Butland believes he thrives off of European nights as the Rangers stopper lifted the lid on his experiences so far.

Butland, 30, was signed from Crystal Palace last summer and has already warmed himself to the Light Blues faithful through his eye-catching performances between the posts. He has 17 clean sheets to his name in the Scottish Premiership while pulling off several top saves to secure Rangers passageway to the Europa League last 16 - where they face Portuguese giants Benfica away in Lisbon tonight. 

The former Manchester United loanee admits he has loved his time at Rangers so far and knows he's ready to embrace the knockout stages of the competition. 

"It is the best atmosphere I've played in to be honest," he told UEFA TV. "It's something special and I know we haven't got to those big knock out games yet but it's still impressive, and it's still something I haven't experienced before - the European football thing.

"I think that comes back to what I said about coming up here in the first place, it's a new thing for me to sort of get my teeth stuck into, so it's excitement. I'm going into these games, big games, you want to play in them, you want to be influential, you want to do your job. 

"That's the way I've attacked those as well. It's something that I believe I can do and I feel like I can help the team. I'm just thriving on it, especially in those European games."