Gers have quality to reign once again, insists Tavernier

JAMES Tavernier believes Rangers have already assembled a squad capable of winning the title.

The right-back has targeted a league winners’ medal after signing a two-year extension to his Rangers contract to commit himself to Ibrox until 2021.

Tavernier won the Championship and Challenge Cup in his first season, but Celtic have enjoyed a clean sweep of trophies since Rangers rejoined them in the top flight and currently have an eight-point lead in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Graeme Murty’s side sit a further three points behind Aberdeen but Tavernier feels he can achieve his title target in the coming years.

After progressing contract talks in little over a week, Tavernier said: “There was only going to be one option. I have always said I have loved my time here and there is a lot more to come.

“I want to win trophies here and my game is coming on a lot. I am still learning and I am working well under the gaffer so it was always a great blend.

“I want to win this league. We’ve got the fans for it, we’ve got the squad for it, we’ve got a great squad now. That’s our aim.

“We are Rangers Football Club, we’re known for how many trophies we’ve had and we need to add more trophies.”

Tavernier felt his ambitions were matched by director of football Mark Allen.

“We want to bring back the stability of this club and we want to be competing for trophies,” he said. “We want to be back in the Champions League. There are targets we want to achieve and we know we have got that capability of doing it.

“The realistic vision was to get a strong foothold in the league and obviously compete with Celtic. Aberdeen have been doing well in the past few years. We have obviously played them three times and won three times. We can beat them but it’s the other games that we have to be more ruthless in and keep Aberdeen below us. We have got the capability of doing that.”

With the league looking out of reach, Rangers — who take on Hamilton on Sunday — will need to target the William Hill Scottish Cup for a realistic shot at silverware this season. Tavernier is determined to do that after they were paired with Falkirk at Ibrox in the quarter-finals.

“We want to at least win one trophy this season,” the 26-yearold said. “The Scottish Cup is a great opportunity. We have Falkirk in the next round and we’ll be looking forward to that.

“It’s something that we can really go for. We’ve got the squad, when it comes to semi-finals and finals, anyone can win. With the disappointment of what happened a few years ago, I want to set that right. We have definitely got the capability of winning it.

“We have got to keep working hard in the league and keep pushing on and closing the gap on teams above us. We have to set statements. If we finish off the season with a trophy, it’s good momentum to kick-start next season. Rangers are used to winning trophies and we have to bring that back to the club.” Confident: James Tavernier is eyeing league title glory