Why not? – Nico Raskin believes resurgent Rangers can win Premiership title

Nico Raskin believes Rangers can complete their William Hill Premiership rejuvenation and win the title this season.

Tuesday’s 2-0 home win over Aberdeen – secured by first-half headers from centre-back Emmanuel Fernandez and Belgium midfielder Raskin, both from Connor Barron corners – underlined the Light Blues’ domestic rehabilitation under Danny Rohl.

The victory moved Rohl’s side up to second place in the table, three points behind leaders Hearts and three ahead of Celtic, having played a game more.

The positivity of four wins in a row for the first time in 13 months is in stark contrast to the struggle under former boss Russell Martin at the start of the season before he was replaced by Rohl in October, with the German coach winning 10, drawing two and losing one of his 13 league games to date.

Asked if Rangers have the quality to win the title this year, Raskin said: “Well, we came back from a long way so if we can do that and if we can keep going, why not?

“I don’t think there’s been one turning point.

“The fact we started to get some results and win a bit more and also the fact the other teams lost points, everything together makes us where we are now, so it’s just trying to keep the momentum going and see where we end up.

“Football goes quick in every sense, so right now we’re enjoying it because we’re getting closer to the top.

“(We) remember how many bad comments we had after the Hearts game (2-1 defeat on December 21). It goes really quick so now we just need to keep calm.”

Rangers now prepare for Sunday’s trip to Pittodrie for the second of this week’s double-header against the managerless Dons, who have first-team coach Peter Leven in charge following the weekend departure of Jimmy Thelin.

Former Gent and Standard Liege player Raskin, who signed for the Light Blues in January 2023, spoke about the “great spirit” that has surged through Rangers under former Sheffield Wednesday boss Rohl.

“It’s not been a great start for a lot of the boys for different reasons,” the 24-year-old said. “But since the manager came, he has tried to insist on the basics, do the basics right on the pitch, be together and then the quality is going to show up, and that’s what we try to do as much as we can.

“I think the team is looking really good together. We have a great spirit and obviously it helps when you win games.

“You win games, you get closer to the top, so we all look in the same direction together and we just enjoy winning games, we try to give the fans a bit of pleasure.

“It’s going to be a very different game up in Aberdeen, so we just take it game by game and try to do our best.”