Tom Lawrence reckons Benfica won’t like coming to Ibrox next week as he reflected on Rangers entertaining 2-2 away draw with the Portuguese giants.

The Light Blues were twice ahead in Lisbon through Lawrence’s clinical header and a terrific finish from Dijon Sterling. However, Connor Goldson’s second half own goal ensured its all to play for in Glasgow on March 14.

Lawrence knows both goals conceded were avoidable and believes Benfica were shown that Rangers won’t just make up the numbers in this Europa League last 16 tie.

“It’s hard to say,” he confessed to TNT Sports when asked to reflect on the game. “We are going to be disappointed with the goals as when you score two away from home you would like to think you win the game.

“But anyway, we look up and we will give it our all next Thursday. I don’t think they will like to come to Ibrox”

Lawrence opened the scoring in Lisbon but was quick to praise teammate Mohammed Diomande’s part in the goal.

He continued: “Dio done really well for the goal, he just dinked it over the top and I managed to put it away. As I say, it’s a good way forward. The penalty looks harsh to me but like I say, I’ve not seen it back yet. 

“We done well to get back ahead, it’s always tough coming to these places. We had to dig deep and that’s what we done.”

The midfielder also wanted to highlight the performance of £35million-rated loanee Fabio Silva, who also played a vital role in the result.

He added: “I think they (the younger players) showed tonight how good they are, they warmed to the occasion and that’s what we need to do from now on. We have to build on this and we look forward to next Thursday.

“We had a game plan in place, I thought we stuck to it well. Obviously they are all good players so they are going to have time and space on the ball sometimes but we have to dig deep, and I thought we created some chances that we probably should’ve done better with.”