‘WE’RE DESPERATE FOR REVENGE OVER HEARTS’
JAMES TAVERNIER has warned Ian Cathro he will face a Rangers team hungry for revenge over Hearts when he makes his managerial debut at Ibrox today. The 30-year-old takes charge of the Gorgie club for the first time, hoping to replicate the victory Robbie Neilson engineered over Rangers ten days ago. Tavernier paid the price for his mistakes in that 2-0 reverse at Tynecastle when he was dropped from Mark Warburton’s starting line-up for last weekend’s win over Aberdeen. But the right-back insists all of the Rangers squad are itching to produce a far better display and retain a hold on second place in the league. ‘You always have a point to prove against any team you have dropped points against or not played well against in the previous meeting,’ said Tavernier. ‘Hearts are coming to our place now, so we definitely have a point to prove to our fans that we can beat them. ‘What did we learn from the last game? The occasion, the night, the tempo — they (Hearts) came with a different game plan than Aberdeen and pressed on a smaller pitch. It was a plan that worked for them. ‘We have to be better this time, but we do have a great record at home and, hopefully, we can use that.’ Rangers haven’t lost a competitive game at Ibrox since a League Cup defeat to St Johnstone in September 2015. Victory over Hearts would open up a five-point lead on their Edinburgh rivals and keep Aberdeen in third spot. Tavernier claimed last month that Rangers could become Premiership runners-up with a degree of ease and is still confident of that outcome. ‘Against Hearts at Tynecastle, we know we didn’t play well,’ he added. ‘When we played Aberdeen at Pittodrie, we didn’t feel we got the result we deserved (Rangers lost 2-1). ‘But we have beaten Aberdeen at home and now we have Hearts on our own pitch where we have a great record. So that second spot is definitely a place we can grab.’