STEVEN Gerrard has told the SPFL they can avoid another Betfred Cup semi-final outcry in future – by planning for both Celtic and Rangers reach the Europa League group stages.

The involvement of the Parkhead and Ibrox clubs in Europe on the Thursday before the semi-finals ties forced the SPFL to move both games to Sunday.

But they have been subjected to intense criticism by the clubs involved and their supporters as well as the Police Federation.

And yesterday they switched the Hearts v Celtic game from Hampden to Murrayfield – prompting an angry reaction from the defending champions.

However, Gerrard, who was unconcerned about the scheduling of their game against Aberdeen, believes the whole controversy could easily have been avoided.

“I mentioned last week that it was a very unique situation because ourselves and Celtic are still in Europe,” he said.

“The only advice I would give is maybe next time expect both of us to get to this stage in Europe and have a different solution.”

“We didn’t have a complaint in the first place. We still haven’t got a complaint.”

Meanwhile, Jon Flanagan, who missed the draw with Villarreal in Spain, has expressed hope the European experience he gained with Liverpool will help Rangers give their supporters a win in their Europa League game against Rapid Vienna tonight.

“I’ve massive memories of playing in Europe with Liverpool,” he said. “I played in a few away games, like away to Anzi in Russia.

“But every game I played in Europe with Liverpool was massive and I have a bit of experience going into these group games with Rangers.

“It’s massive that we give the supporters a performance to be proud if. This club deserves to be in European and staging big games. The fans have waited a long time for group stage football and we want to repay them with a good performance.”

"I am looking to get back to playing in Europe at Ibrox. They are always great games with the fans behind us. It’s a chance for us to put Livingston on Sunday behind us and look to the future.

Flanagan had to sit out the opening Group G match against Villarreal after getting sent off in the second leg of the Europa League play-off against Ufa and is looking forward to returning to European action.

"I watched the Villarreal game," he said. "It was a great result and a great point for Rangers. I had been training in the morning at the Hummel Training Centre so I just watched it at home. Was it a difficult one to watch given it was a nail-biter of a match? Yes, I think so.

"From the off, we did not get off to the best of starts, but the lads were brilliant and in the end they got the point that they deserved."

The full-back is confident that Rangers can bounce back from their Ladbrokes Premiership loss to Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Sunday against Rapid.

"I think this game is coming at the right time," he said. "Games are coming thick and fast and we want to put that behind us. We have to learn from it and bounce back.

"We can’t afford to feel sorry for ourselves. We can’t afford to dwell on it. We’ve just got to put it to the side and move on. But we have to learn from it and correct those mistakes the next time out."