Rangers resurgence due to ‘months of development’, says boss Danny Rohl

Rangers boss Danny Rohl says his side’s rise up the table is down to “months of development” as they gear up for a nail-biting conclusion to the Scottish Premiership title race.

Rangers were eight points behind Celtic and 13 points off Hearts when Rohl was brought in to replace Russell Martin in October, but they have since propelled themselves up to second place and now sit just a point behind the Jambos.

Rohl’s side have five games left in which to try and snatch a league title that seemed almost unthinkable in the early stages of the campaign.

The 36-year-old said: “I think you see now the group is growing and growing and this is not just the result from one week. I think this is a result of three or four months of development.

“We are still not at the end and this is also good, but I like to see that we understand more and more. We can also switch the shapes now more quickly. This is what we have.

“The final five games are about tactics, but the most important thing is to have the right emotion.”

Next up for Rangers is a clash with fourth-placed Motherwell at Ibrox on Sunday.

Motherwell have gone five games without a win to leave them looking over their shoulders in the race for European football, but Rohl expects a tough encounter.

He said: “Motherwell will come and they want to play football with a lot of passes. It’s a demanding game.

“We are growing with the belief and you see in some moments in the pressing, if you go with belief in the pressing you have the chance to win balls.

“If you stay half-and-half and you don’t know really, then you come too late and then you are not connected. This is what we have to improve on and we will and we did so far, but let’s do the next game and this is an important one.”

Rangers are preparing for their post-split fixtures with a warm-weather training camp in Spain.

Rohl added: “It’s good to have the group together, the players together. To have a little bit of time for recovery, but also to work on some small details and it’s also good to refresh the mind.

“I see a lot of benefits. I will have time with the board to speak about topics for the future. This is also nice to have and I think it goes in a good direction. The players should do something together as well. This is crucial.”