Rangers showed “character in abundance” to recover from a fourth straight loss at Ibrox and keep their Europa League dreams alive on a “special” Ibrox night, according to interim head coach Barry Ferguson.

Fenerbahce won the second leg of the last-16 tie 2-0 in Glasgow, levelling the scores on aggregate, but then failed to convert three of their five penalties in a shootout that followed as Rangers once again defied the odds in Europe.

This run to the quarter-finals comes in a season of domestic turmoil – dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Championship side Queen’s Park, beaten in the League Cup final by Celtic and trailing their city rivals by 16 points in the Premiership.

Philippe Clement was dismissed as manager as a result and, despite the impressive performances under the Belgian in Europe, it was Ferguson who Rangers have trusted for the remainder of the campaign.

Led by the former club captain, the first leg was a swashbuckling triumph in Istanbul, a counter-attacking masterclass.

A double from Poland midfielder Sebastian Szymanski eroded all that good work in 90 minutes back in Glasgow, but Ferguson was pleased by how his players recovered.

“They showed character in abundance tonight and we have to do that going forward,” he told TNT Sports. “Overall, I’m just delighted to into the quarters.

“We’ve still got to work at a lot of things, but that tonight is what my teams are built on.

“I know they’re good players, but it takes more than a good player at Rangers, that’s something we’re trying to drill into them. Tonight was a big test for them and I think they came through it. It’s easy for your head to go down at 2-0, but they never gave in.”