Maurice Edu admits Rangers have exceeded their expectations in the Champions League this season and is targeting a place in the last 16 as they prepare to face Valencia on Tuesday (Rangers 17/2 to beat Valencia).

The Glasgow side were expected, along with Bursaspor, to be the whipping boys in Group C but they have proved their doubters wrong and have garnered five points from their first three matches, with draws against Manchester United and Valencia and a 1-0 win over Bursaspor.

They are one point better off than Tuesday’s opponents and victory over the Spaniards would go a long way to securing qualification to the knock-out stages.

Valencia have hit a rocky patch in their season and were held to a 1-1 draw by La Liga’s bottom side Real Zaragoza on Saturday, while the Scots sit at the top of the SPL despite dropping their first domestic points of the season with a 1-1 draw against Inverness at the weekend.

American star Edu, who picked up an injury on Saturday and is rated as just 50-50 to feature at the Mestalla Stadium, refuses to get carried away by Rangers progress in Europe but admits that the goal posts have been raised in recent times (Rangers 9/4 to qualify from Group C).

“It would be naive to look too far ahead as the Champions League includes the best teams in the world,” he said. “The Europa League was our goal coming into the competition, I think.

“Now we’re in a position where we can qualify for the last 16, and fingers crossed we can get there.”