Manager Mark Warburton has said that he and the Rangers’ squad will continue to learn and improvement in the final games of this season, ahead of our Premiership return.
Having dropped points in the last two matches following on from the Scottish Cup semi final Old Firm victory over Celtic, Warburton knows that a tight turn around in fixtures could be commonplace next season and we have to learn to deal with it as a squad better than we obviously have recently.
Speaking to the Official Site he explained.
‘We have to look at it and recognise what the players have done over that 10 day period and recognise it. If you look around at other teams in other leagues, they are in similar situations. There has been no lack of effort, but we have maybe lacked that five to 10 per cent sharpness which gets the job done. So we have to learn from it as if we are successful and are in Europe, then we have Europa League games on a Thursday and will be playing again on a Sunday.’
Warburton went on to say that you could look at Spurs getting back on early Friday morning, before going to Aston Villa and taking victory as the type of performance we need to learn to put in.
‘That type of performance, we have to learn from. We trained very well today, and we have to keep it really sharp, as we will do between now and May 21 to be in great shape for us against a very tough opponent. So there is no doubt we will be prepared for that. It has been a tiring few days, but if you look at the timing of it – Celtic match, in, playing on the Wednesday, and in again with no days off – it`s important we get the preparation right. We know physically they are still in great shape, and they are performing day-in, day-out, so we have no worries in that area. Subconsciously, you have achieved your ultimate goal of winning the league, you have played a Cup Final at a packed Hampden and then a week later you have had the Celtic game, so we have to learn as staff how better we can prepare the players.’
That also means lessons for him and the coaching staff in terms of the part they can play to ensure players are well rested and prepared.
‘Was our timetable right? Should we have had two days off? We have to see how we as a group of staff can help the players deal with those challenges.’
He also spoke about the fans again given their continued support this year, and how the players would need them in the top flight next campaign.
‘The level of support we have received from the fans since day one has been outstanding. We speak about the players buying into new staff and new philosophies etc, but the fans have done the same. From the outset they have supported the players and it`s helped them enormously throughout the course of the season. Our challenge must be – and we spoke to the players after the first full house of the season – the more full houses we have, the better we are doing as a team. If we can get season tickets back to the level previously seen at the club during the good times, then we are moving in the right direction.’
With prices going back to the Premiership level this year, Warburton went on to say.
‘There is a responsibility to deliver a level of performance that is appropriate for that and for us being a Premiership team. I made it clear that we are not going up there to make up the numbers – Rangers fans won`t accept that, and the supporters who are buying season tickets wouldn`t expect us going for second, third, fourth or fifth. I am not saying we are going to win it, but we are going to go into that league, be highly competitive and look to win every game we go into.’
