James Tavernier happy with Rangers reaction to his furious post-Brann interview

Captain James Tavernier believes Rangers have shown the right response since he castigated his side’s performance in Danny Rohl’s first game as head coach.

Following the damaging 3-0 defeat by Brann in Norway, which led to their new 36-year-old German boss going over to the band of away supporters to apologise, the right-back let rip in an unusually emotive post-match interview, admitting he was “raging” and describing a third loss out of three in the Europa League as “disgraceful”.

Since then, Rohl’s side have won back-to-back Premiership matches against Kilmarnock at home and Hibernian away to restore some positivity ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden Park.

Tavernier, who turned 34 on Friday, said: “You never want it to get to that stage and you never want to have performances like that.

“But it’s a good thing that we’ve seen a reaction and it’s a positive one.

“So, we’ve got to build on that and keep pushing each other, keep wanting to demand and run for each other and show real togetherness.

“And I think the past two games, we’ve really seen that. So I really want that to continue.”

Tavernier believes the arrival of the former Sheffield Wednesday boss represents a new start for the Gers squad, who won only five games in 17 before Russell Martin departed as manager.

He said: “He’s almost wanted it to be a fresh slate. You can obviously feel that when you’re playing at Ibrox.

“With the fans, it feels like a fresh slate. So, the boys have really responded well.

“Obviously, the Brann game came thick and fast, he was two days in the door.

“So it was difficult to get as much information as possible. But I think the boys have really responded well since then because obviously, I wouldn’t really say it was tactical that day.

“It was more as a team and effort and what we put into that game and I think we really responded well from then.

“So it’s about consistency now. So we have to keep stepping it up and keep putting in the performances.”

Tavernier is in the final year of his contract at Ibrox and speculation over his future comes and goes but he insists the hunger to win still burns brightly inside.

The right back, who joined Rangers in 2015, said: “I think I’ve got a lot of years in front of me still. My legs are still very good.

“Every game I treat with the utmost respect and I always want to win.

“The desire and hunger to win games is always there.

“I think it’s there when I’m playing games with my kids or I’m playing on the PlayStation with my brother.

“It’s always there. I just want to win. So it’ll always continue to be there.”