Change of boots spurs on Rangers striker Nacho

The Spanish forward struck nine minutes from time in the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium to earn Walter Smith's men a 1-1 draw with the Greek side and send them through on away goals. That set up a clash with Werder Bremen, with the first leg at Ibrox on March 6.

Novo missed three good chances in the goalless first leg against Panathinaikos last week and admitted he blamed himself for Rangers' failure to win. His luck changed, though, after the gaudy orange boots he wore that night were ditched.

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"The orange boots are in the bin," said Novo. "They were thrown in there after the Kilmarnock game at the weekend. For one thing, they were too flash. It felt really great to score. When you get criticised for missing chances, you have to stay strong.

"I had great support from the manager and I just love to prove people wrong. The only thing a player can do is try to prove his worth on the park. But I was hard on myself also. I know I missed three or four chances in the first game and I should have scored. It was my fault we didn't win at Ibrox.

"This time, their goalkeeper had one great save from me before half-time but I still felt that I would score. I was repeating to myself that a goal would come."

Novo bagged the vital goal against Red Star Belgrade that earned Rangers a £10million place in the Champions League group stage earlier this season. He has now added a further £2m to the Ibrox accounts by setting up a last-16 tie with Werder Bremen, which will provide lucrative German television rights.

That has more than repaid the investment the club made when recently handing him a two-year deal.

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"I've had more chances to play in European matches this season and I've enjoyed it," said Novo. "I've not played that many in the SPL, especially because I dislocated my shoulder. These two legs have really been my first two games in three months. It takes time to get back to your best but I know what people expect of me.

"I'm never going to do down my fans or my team-mates. The club means a lot to me and I will always give everything I have got until the very last day I am here. We'll need to see how things go in the next round of the UEFA Cup. We will try to do our best and it would be nice to go one stage further than we did last season."

Progress in the UEFA Cup will intensify the hectic demands on Rangers during the run-in, as they continue to compete on three domestic fronts.

"I want to win every competition," added Novo. "There is not one trophy you can single out. It was great to give the supporters something to cheer tonight but now we have to concentrate on getting back to league business at the weekend. We have a great team here and I think we can have a really successful season."