Barry Ferguson pays tribute to James Tavernier ahead of 500th Rangers appearance

Barry Ferguson paid tribute to James Tavernier as the Rangers captain gets set to make his 500th appearance for the club on Saturday.

The 33-year-old right-back has been a key figure at the Govan club since signing from Wigan in 2015 and his landmark game will come against Motherwell in the William Hill Premiership at Ibrox.

Former Gers skipper Ferguson, who was installed as interim boss earlier in the week after the sacking of Philippe Clement, knows more than most what it takes to lead the Light Blues.

A boyhood Gers fan who came through the youth ranks, Ferguson played in midfield for Rangers between 1997-2003 and 2005-2009.

“First and foremost it is an unbelievable achievement,” said Ferguson, who revealed Leon Balogun, Oscar Cortes, Dujon Sterling and John Souttar had all returned to training.

“He’s been through a lot in his Rangers career, but one thing about James Tavernier is that he never hides. He always puts himself out there to play.

“And on Wednesday night (in the 4-2 win at Kilmarnock) when I moved him from his natural right-back position to centre-half, I thought he was exceptional.

“I thought he became a real leader and that’s what I want from my captain.

“As I said, we’ve had a few good chats, he is an important player for me and as I said, 500 games, he deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Tavernier continues to split opinion among the Gers fans, as some associate him with the relative lack of success at Ibrox in recent years while Celtic dominate, and he often comes in for the brunt of the criticism.

However, Ferguson, who previously managed Clyde, Kelty Hearts and Alloa, said: “That’s part of playing at Rangers.

“When you suffer defeats or you don’t play well, it’s generally the captain that gets it in the neck. He’s big enough to handle those situations.

“I went through it as well. It’s not nice at times, but I’m afraid that is the nature of the beast when you play at Rangers.”

Ferguson began his interim tenure with a 4-2 comeback win at Rugby Park but makes his first appearance in the Gers technical area at Ibrox knowing that his side have a lot of making up to do with supporters.

Back-to-back home defeats to Championship side Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup and St Mirren in the Premiership sealed Clement’s fate.

Former Scotland midfielder Ferguson said: “The last two games at Ibrox were not good enough.

“The performances have been well below the standard that’s needed at Rangers and we need to set that straight tomorrow.

“Ideally I would have loved a bit more time, that’s not the way it worked out but I’m not going to use that as an excuse.

“They know their roles and responsibilities with and without the ball. So we’re just looking forward to getting back home.

“As I mentioned, the previous two games have been nowhere near good enough so I’m sure the supporters will be expecting us to take the game to Motherwell and get three points.

“When you play at Ibrox you have to dominate the ball, you have to take the game to the opposition and I don’t think that was the case in the last two games.”