JAMES Tavernier has insisted that Rangers’ players have the mentality they need to bounce back from their devastating defeat to Ross County as he targeted wins in all six of their remaining cinch Premiership matches – including against Celtic at Parkhead.
But the Ibrox captain has admitted that he and his team mates have to eradicate the defensive errors they made in the 3-2 loss in the Global Energy Stadium on Sunday and be far more ruthless in attack during the run-in if they are to lift the cinch Premiership trophy come May.
Philippe Clement’s men performed poorly at the back and up front against Don Cowie’s relegation-threatened charges in Dingwall at the weekend and suffered a reverse which leaves them four points behind their city rivals in the league table with a game in hand as a result.
Tavernier yesterday dismissed suggestions that the bizarre circumstances behind the postponed fixture against Dundee at Dens Park last midweek had contributed to the substandard showing as he started preparations for the rescheduled match on Wednesday night.
READ MORE: How can Rangers resurrect title bid and pip Celtic to the Premiership?
The right back is adamant that Rangers, who were seven points behind Celtic when Clement took over back in October, can still be crowned champions if they get back to their best and collect maximum points from their remaining six league outings.
"It was really tough to take,” he said. “But first and foremost we have to earn the right to win games and we didn't do that. We came in after probably a poor first half, we knew the performance levels could definitely improve tremendously.
"We knew we had something to build on at 1-0. To concede an early goal in the manner that we did was disappointing and then to concede another two in the manner that we did was uncharacteristic. Since the gaffer came in we have been solid defensively. But we have to look back at this as quickly as possible, learn from it and really focus for Wednesday.
Tavernier continued: “So we have six games to play and we go into every game like it is a final. But that has been the case from the start of the season to the end of the season so nothing changes there. But we have to put in a performance that the fans recognise and we recognise as a team.
"We go into every game trying to win the game, nothing changes there. We are obviously going to into these six games and win every single game. But that's the Rangers mentality, to win games. We go to win games in Europe so nothing changes there. We obviously have to earn the right to deliver the performance that we know that we can."
READ MORE: Rangers vs Hearts Scottish Cup semi-final ref & VAR named
Asked if the cancellation of the Dundee game last Wednesday had been a factor in the insipid Rangers display up in the Highlands, Tavernier said: "We obviously been up there twice and not played. It is obviously football and things can happen. But the preparation doesn't change.
"It was the manner of how we played. We knew we had to come out in the second half and perform better. We didn't, we just conceded three really poor goals and that gave us a mountain to climb to get back into the game.
"It was definitely out of character. I have to look back on the goals and how we defended as a team. But obviously to concede a goal in the second minute after half time, it is not what you want to do, you want to start the second half positively and we obviously didn't do that."
Tavernier has promised the Rangers supporters who booed him and his team mates off the park at the Global Energy Stadium that they will see a response to the County reverse against Dundee tomorrow night and then in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts at Hampden on Sunday.
"We have to react to every single game and show the fans the performance levels that they know we can put in,” he said. “Wednesday is a big game and we know we need to rectify it."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel