Driven to succeed
This young Rangers team is too hungry for medals to be complacent, says Waghorn
MARTYN WAGHORN insists complacency is not setting in at Rangers — because the team is full of young players desperate to win something for the first time in their careers.
The Ibrox side suffered their first defeat under Mark Warburton when they were beaten 3-1 by St Johnstone in the League Cup this week.
After making a storming start to the season — scoring five times in three successive games — the Championship leaders struggled to maintain those high standards in their two most recent league victories over Livingston and Dumbarton before falling to Tommy Wright’s side.
But Waghorn is adamant they did not get carried away with a run of results and performances that have taken them seven points clear at the top of the second tier.
Of the 11 players Warburton has signed since arriving in Glasgow, only two have won anything in senior football before: Danny Wilson, who led Hearts to the Championship last season after SPL and League Cup success with Rangers in his previous spell, and James Tavernier, who won English League One with Bristol City.
The rest are still looking to break their duck and Waghorn maintains that means they are driven to succeed.
‘I don’t think there’s any chance of us becoming complacent,’ said the 25-year-old striker. ‘We’re a young, hungry side with a lot of players who haven’t really won much before between us in the past.
‘We want to put that behind us at Rangers, get the club back into the Premiership and get challenging for trophies again. That’s all our focus is on.
‘ We’ve had a dip below our standards from our point of view but we’re working hard to correct that.
‘Other teams have a game plan and can execute it well. Sometimes that’s going to happen but it’s up to us to keep our momentum going.
‘With the way the team i s set up, there’s not going to be any complacency. I want to go out and win every game we can and as comfortably as possible.
‘I want to fulfil my potential and give 100 per cent. That’s the way I’ve been brought up.
‘I’m not just going to go out there and slacken off. The gaffer and Davie Weir have got us all going the right way and we all want to get Rangers back to where they ought to be.
‘It would be a massive achievement to win my first league and it would be the same for a lot of the boys.
‘No matter what division you’re in, you want to win i t. To get the club kicking on again is the most important thing. The fans deserve it. The Premiership is where Rangers need to be and want to be.’
Rangers get back to l eague business on Sunday at Morton after a l oss to Saints that few Ibrox followers saw coming.
Warburton has insisted the team play at a high tempo in a bid to entertain the fans — and Waghorn rejected any suggestion of potential burn-out.
‘ The t r ai ning t hese days is structured around your games and your workload when you play on a Saturday and a Tuesday,’ he said.
‘Although we are working hard, we get our breaks and it’s down to the manager and sports-science staff to assess when that happens.
‘The way we’ve been going initially, we’ve been relentless and we still want to be playing as much as we can and win as much as possible.
‘It’s a long time since I’ve been in a successful, winning team like this. I’m relishing every moment. I don’t want to take a rest — I want to keep playing and for the goals to keep coming.’
Waghorn is already halfway towards his pre- season goals target of 20, with 11 to his credit so far and six of those from penalties.
Given Rangers have poured so many players forward at times and applied such pressure, he believes he could come close to achieving his aim merely with spot-kicks.
‘I’ve never had six penalties in my career — never mind in the first few weeks of a season,’ he said.
‘That’s down to the boys’ attacking flair. They’re relentless and when defenders get tired, it becomes hard for them not to dive in and give away free-kicks or penalties.
‘I’ve been benefiting from that but that’s down to the hard work of my team-mates and the pressure we’ve been putting on other sides.
‘I could get well into double figures on penalties alone but getting three points every week i s the most important thing.’