GRAEME Souness headed off to Turkey today insisting Rovers are now better equipped to cope with the demands of European football than they were 12 months ago.

Souness's troops face a potentially tricky UEFA Cup first round first leg tie with Genclerbirligi in Ankara tomorrow.

But the Rovers boss believes his squad is now strong enough to cope with whatever the competition throws at them.

"We are better equipped for Europe this season when you consider the players we've brought in this summer," said Souness.

"There's a better balance to the squad now and we've got greater cover in more positions."

Rovers' new strength in depth is sure to be put to the test in the Turkish capital as Souness goes in search of a crucial first leg advantage.

Recent signing Barry Ferguson is a definite non-starter having already featured for Rangers in the Champions League this season.

And so too is Garry Flitcroft, who was missing from this morning's flight after failing to recover from the back injury that ruled him out of Saturday's victory at Portsmouth.

That means Dino Baggio will make his first start alongside Turkish international Tugay in the centre of midfield.

But the fact that Souness is able to call on a player with 60 international caps and a wealth of European experience behind him is further evidence of Rovers' new-found strength in depth.

"Dino will start tomorrow and his European experience could be vital for us this season," said Souness.

"We will make a few changes, just to freshen things up, but they won't be wholesale, it's a more case of tinkering."

Genclerbirligi warmed up for tomorrow's clash with their first league win of the season at the weekend.

Two goals from Mustafa Ozkan and a goal apiece from Deniz Bariz and Youla Souleymane helped them to a 4-0 win over Konyaspor.

But Rovers also returned to form with a 2-1 win against Portsmouth on Saturday and Souness believes that will act as a major confidence boost for his players.

"We are looking forward to going there after a good win on Saturday," said the Rovers boss.

"We should be full of confidence after that and I'm personally looking forward to going back to Turkey.

"They (Genclerbirligi) had a good season last year but they've since lost some of their best players so I don't know how that's affected them.

"But we'll be going into the game with the same attitude as we do normally.

"If we play to our capabilities then we know we can beat teams, and if we don't then we know we could lose.

"If we show the same kind of resilience that was evident on Saturday then we'll win more than we lose this season."

The 19-man squad Rovers have taken to Turkey is: Friedel, Neill, Gresko, Taylor, Amoruso, Tugay, Cole, Jansen, Babbel, Reid, Johansson, Grabbi, Yorke, Thompson, Baggio, Emerton, Kelly, McEveley, Gallagher.