Rangers captain James Tavernier has stepped into the spotlight, determined to rally his teammates and improve the club's fortunes following a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen on Wednesday.

This loss, which marked another significant setback for the team, has left Rangers trailing nine points behind both Celtic and the Dons in the race for the top of the Scottish Premiership.

But the Ibrox club have little time to dwell on their recent woes as they look to go one step closer to defending their Premier Sports Cup crown, when they face Motherwell in the semi-final of the competition this weekend.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the midweek match at Pittodrie, Tavernier acknowledged the criticism that has come towards the Rangers players and staff. 

These results, which have included league setbacks against Kilmarnock and Celtic as well as failing to progress beyond the UEFA Champions League play-offs, have intensified scrutiny on manager Philippe Clement, with many fans and prominent pundits calling for a change at the helm.

Despite that, Tavernier is adamant that the Rangers squad remains united and fully supports Clement.

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"The players are obviously fully committed to everything, the lads want to win games," he said.

"The manager is getting criticism, the team is getting criticism but that happens when you don't get the results that you want and it's down to us as players to improve ourselves and deliver the results that the club want and the fans want.

"We're in it together, collectively, as one team. We'll all put our hands up and be responsible for when the results are going bad. It's a collective team performance, It's not just the starting XI it's the full squad. It's up to us to improve each other, and demand from each other, to get what we want out of the season. We've just got to continue to do that."

Many are deeming Sunday's Scottish League Cup fixture as win or bust for Clement, and Tavernier was asked whether the Rangers squad are now playing for their gaffer's future. 

"Everyone plays for everyone's future in every single game," the Light Blues full-back stated. "You start the season with ambitions and targets of where you want to be and you train every day, and play every game, to get to those targets. You're always playing for a future but at a club like Rangers you have to win things. That's the demand this club has and us a team have to back that up.

"Our aim is to win on the weekend so we're not thinking any other way as a team or about not winning the game. Our main focus is to get ourselves into a final and that's all we're thinking about.”