Captain James Tavernier has insisted that Sunday’s Old Firm clash is the perfect opportunity to respond to Scottish Cup heartbreak.
Speaking at the pre-match presser on Friday, he also gave an update on his own condition – having come through the full 120 minutes at Ibrox, last week, unscathed.
In that game, it looked like Tav would be the hero – only for St Johnstone to grab their equaliser, sending the game into penalties.
Having scored what appeared to be the winning goal – minutes later he missed his spot kick in the shoot out.
Such is football.
The hurt lingers, but it is now time to respond.
“It’s the perfect game to go into coming off the back of being knocked out of the cup, ” said Tavernier.
“When you come to Rangers you want to win every single game and three defeats in 53 games is some achievement and it just shows how much desire and consistency they’ve put into this season and that they’ve continued that after we’ve won the league.”
“We want to try and finish off the season strong with three games to go, we can’t wait for the Old Firm and then the two games after that.”
“I’m feeling good. I couldn’t say that for the first couple of days after the game.”
“It was demanding, I wasn’t expecting 120 minutes but I was fine for the majority of the game and that’s down to the sports scenes people and physios who made sure I was ready.”
🎙️ PRESS CONFERENCE: James Tavernier spoke to the media ahead of Sunday's Old Firm match at Ibrox. pic.twitter.com/kmSUwA7VAp
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) April 30, 2021