Steven Gerrard’s Rangers have a big task on their hands away from home and at Ibrox.
The Welsh side played the Danes in qualification last summer and Ruscoe is well placed to offer an insight into the upcoming matches considering his team also played Steven Gerrard’s side in a pre-season training match.
Gerrard’s defence could have a tough couple of matches on their hands, with unique threats to deal with that they are not used to.
The 41-year-old has picked out two dangers who could punish the Gers from set-pieces; Paul Onuachu and Ayo Simon Okosun.
Luckily for Rangers, striker Onuachu, who is 6ft 7in tall, has so far not played for the club this summer with the African Cup of Nations, a holiday and transfer drama halting his progress.
He may not feature, unless his manager decides to throw him in at the deep end.
Okosun though has featured and the midfielder appeared to be rested at the weekend for the upcoming encounter, on the bench during a 1-0 league win.
Ruscoe describes the colossal midfielder as quite the presence in the box.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “Apparently there’s no club in Europe who get a higher percentage of their goals from set-plays.
“We were holding them 1-1 after an hour when they brought on another Nigerian, Simon Okosun, who’s 6ft 6in.
“They put a corner and a cross into our box and he scored both of them. I’ve never seen a team who are so dependent on high balls into the opposition box.”
Ruscoe makes it sound like Rangers will be under a barrage, also pointing to the Danes’ throw-ins as real dangers, which come into the box “like shells” right on top of the six-yard line.
The information suddenly brings new context to Gerrard’s post-Kilmarnock comments in which he lamented his side’s defending from a set-piece that Stephen O’Donnell scored from.
Describing his side as ‘bullied’ for the goal they conceded, the Ibrox boss is clearly already aware of set-piece threat Midtjylland pose and wants his defence to sharpen up.
The worry for Rangers will be that the Danes remain a big goal threat from corners and free-kicks even if Gerrard’s team are dominating possession and territory.
It makes the need for the Gers attack to be clinical in front of goal even more critical, ensuring they are rewarded for their forward play.
At the other end even greater concentration will be required. Can they deal with Okosun and company and progress to the play-off round?
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