Steven Gerrard is adamant his new-look Rangers side will not crack under the Ibrox strain this season.

The mental strength of the Light Blues squad was questioned over the last campaign as they lost seven home games for the first time in over one hundred years.

Gerrard has made moves to address that lack of consistency after bringing in ten summer signings as well as overseeing the departure of 14 first-teamers this summer.

The former Liverpool captain is looking to turn the fortunes, both domestically and in Europe, of the Ibrox club and insists he only wants players that have a winning mentality on board.

Rangers' prepare to defend a 1-0 first leg lead against Croatian side Osijek on Thursday night and Gerrard said the character of his squad will be much stronger this year.

He said: "I only know what I've seen from day one.

"I didn't know the mentality from last year and I only know the mentality of the clubs I've been involved with and played for.

"What I can assure you is the mentality will be strong this year because I'll only have players and characters who want to fight and want to win, who are hungry.

"Yes I want them to be free and express themselves too but above all, I want winners all over the pitch as well as on my bench pushing the people in front of them.

"That for me means you have a good mentality in the group."

Rangers completed their pre-season preparations with a 3-0 win over Wigan on Sunday, however Gerrard was disappointed with the opening 45 minutes.

He warned that if they repeat that first-half performance when they face Osijek on Thursday, it could cost them a shot at facing Maribor of Slovenia or Georgian outfit Chikhura Sachkhere in the third qualifying round.

He added: "The most important thing for me was that the players knew themselves."

"Going along and chatting to them, hearing them speak amongst themselves, they knew that the first half against Wigan wasn't good enough - it was short of what is expected here.

"They know if they turn up and perform against Europa League teams and are second best, we'll be knocked out.

"But the players knew that themselves and that tells me they want to improve, that they want the standard to be higher and are starting to understand the responsibilities for playing for this football club.

"What has gone before us has been top, top football teams who have been successful.

"This is a club full of history and tradition and when you sign up for it, you buy into the fact you have to keep your standards as high as possible."