James Tavernier admits he was taken aback by his team’s failure to keep clean sheets on the road prior to the midweek win at Hibs
13:00, 01 Nov 2025Updated 13:53, 01 Nov 2025
Rangers have been clobbered over the head so many times this season it’s little wonder that Ibrox senses have been scrambled.
Be it the devastating Champions League leathering in Brugge or the repeated domestic jabs that threaten to relegate Gers to the status as Premiership also-rans, there have been times when the Light Blues have been left lurching about like a punch-drunk fighter.
But of all the dizzying shocks the Light Blues have suffered, it was the fact that Wednesday’s Easter Road clean sheet was the club’s first shut-out on the road for almost a year that really blew James Tavernier’s mind.
Eleven months and 24 games sat in between a 3-0 win at Ross County last December and the narrow victory Danilo’s lethal Leith strike provided in midweek.
The stoic display against Hibs was another small step forward for a team that has a huge amount of catching up to do if it’s to challenge for silverware this year.
But it will be two back if Danny Rohl’s new side slip into the old habits that cost Russell Martin his job when they march out at Hampden for Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
Celtic may not be the swashbuckling outfit of yesteryear but they still possess enough quality up top to take advantage of the kind of gifts Rangers have been dishing in front of Jack Butland’s goal lately.
Rangers’s Danilo (second left) celebrates scoring (Image: PA)
And that’s why Tavernier insists his side have to be just as conscious of their steps off the ball at the National Stadium as they were in the nation’s capital this week.
“I think someone told us that was like our first clean sheet since December 2024,” said the gobsmacked skipper.
“That blew my mind because you obviously pride yourself as a defender on not conceding. So to see that stat was disappointing. I couldn’t believe it.
“We have to take pride as a whole team to try to ensure Jack has nothing to do in the net. And we’re going to obviously try to do that building forward now, because we know we’ve got talent up the top end of the pitch.
“We know we’re going to create chances.
“But it’s all about managing the game and giving the opposition less chances. And the more we do that, the more we’ll put ourselves in a good position.”
Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side found themselves within touching distance of League Cup glory last year after taking Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops all the way to spot-kicks.
But Ridvan Yilmaz’s missed effort allowed Daizen Maeda to snatch the trophy away.
The Turkish defender is one of eight players involved that day who are no longer on the books at Ibrox.
But Yilmaz’s former captain is convinced the scar tissue of that devastating defeat will not hamper Gers this time.
“You never want to lose a game like that, especially in the final,” admitted Tavernier.
James Tavernier(Image: SNS Group)
“But there’s a lot of new faces in the building so it’s going to look different with how we approach it with them in the side.”
The changes made at both Ibrox and Parkhead haven’t been limited to the players taking to the pitch.
Celtic have called Martin O’Neill out of managerial retirement following Rodgers’ shock resignation this week, while Rohl is now the man picking up their pieces of Martin’s short yet chaotic reign.
The German gaffer’s coaching debut in Norway couldn’t have gone much worse as his new charges were battered 3-0 by Brann.
But back-to-back wins over Kilmarnock and Hibs have at long last provided evidence of some green shoots for the long-suffering Light Blues support.
But if Rangers are to really blossom quickly under Rohl, they need to win this weekend. Tavernier added: “It’s still early days, but obviously this is an important game because it can get us into a final.
“It puts us in a position where we’re building on something as well. Obviously every game that’s coming up is going to be important. But this one’s our next one so it has to be the most important one to get ourselves into a final and to build as a team.
“Every Old Firm game you play in, you find they are always fast-tempoed and played at a crazy pace. So I expect this one will be the same. You know that both teams that will be desperate to win.
“But we’ll stick to what the manager wants us to do in our game plan and apply it on the pitch.
“We have to build some consistency. A win would be another step in the right direction and that’s the direction we want to take as a team and obviously as a club, because obviously the past couple of months have not been good enough.
“We’ve now had two good performances and now we need to keep on building on that.
“And this is obviously another game where we can make that step and then move closer and closer in the direction where we want to go.”