Nicolas Raskin frustrated as Rangers’ title task gets tougher

Nicolas Raskin concedes frustration levels are high at Rangers after being left with a “do or die” game at William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts on Monday.

After German coach Danny Rohl took over in October while 13 points behind the Jambos, the Light Blues worked hard to cut the deficit but the 3-2 defeat by Motherwell at Ibrox last weekend left them four points off the top and one behind Old Firm rivals Celtic, who travel to Hibernian on Sunday.

With just four fixtures remaining and the title out of the Ibrox side’s hands, the 25-year-old Belgium midfielder said: “Yeah, obviously it’s not nice, especially when we’ve worked so hard to come back to that position.

“That’s the thing that is even more frustrating for us.

“But like I say, we can’t go back to that (Motherwell) game, it’s done. So now we need to focus on Hearts.

“We know it’s a kind of do or die game. It’s either we win and we are in it or we lose and it’s going to be very tough.

“So we all know, it’s very clear for everyone. We have to win over there if want our chances to keep increasing.

“Last week was very disappointing but now we can’t go back to that.

“We need to learn from that game and then going forward to the next one and growing with each game.

“If we don’t believe in ourselves then no-one else is going to believe in us. So first of all we need to believe we can do it.

“We know we can do it. We’ve shown it during the season. It’s just now we have to put the last effort into the last four games and give some extra to go and get the win.”

However, Raskin, who joined the Light Blues from Standard Liege in 2023, accepts there will be questions over Rangers’ winning mentality until the Ibrox side, who last finished top of the heap in the Covid-affected 2020-21 season, become champions again.

Hearts are looking to win their first title since 1960 while Celtic have won it 13 of the last 14 seasons and are looking to make it five in a row.

Raskin said: “Like you say, until we win the big thing I think that’s going to always be there.

“But I don’t think we can talk about mentality when a team comes back from 13 points behind to a position where you can still win the title.

“So it’s a bit, I won’t say unfair, but like you say, until we win the big thing it’s always going to be a question mark.

“But we just keep focusing on ourselves and what we need to do to go and win it.

“And no matter what people say, we don’t focus on that. We just focus on how do we win the next game? How do we get better for the next game and that’s it.”