TAVERNIER ADAMANT RANGERS HAVE THAT HUNGER

JAMES TAVERNIER insists the Rangers players are ‘always hungry’ for success after getting Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s tenure off to a flying start. Thursday night’s 2-0 win over Sparta Prague earned a place in the Europa League knockout rounds and provided a perfect managerial debut for the Dutchman. Van Bronckhorst watched from the Hampden stands last Sunday when Rangers suffered a dismal 3-1 defeat to Hibs in the Premier Sports Cup semifinal. Connor Goldson caused a furore after full-time in that match by claiming the squad had lost ‘a bit of hunger’ in the wake of last season’s Premiership title triumph. Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Livingston, captain Tavernier suggested those words were spoken in the heat of the moment and made it clear he saw no shortage of motivation at Ibrox. ‘The boys are always hungry,’ said the right-back. ‘They are at Rangers for a reason. They are at Rangers to be winning trophies and to be winning games every single week. ‘When the boss came at the start of the week, I knew all the boys were really looking forward to working with him. ‘You’ve seen how much of that came out in the game on Thursday night. There was a real focus on the game plan and what the boss wanted us to do. ‘We carried it out the best we could in the short amount of time that we had, but I think it’s only going to get better the more we work together. ‘The hunger? It’s one of those where frustrations can kick in, it’s still very raw after a game. ‘The hunger is always there for the boys, we are at this club for a reason and that should never be in doubt. ‘We are always looking to improve. I thought Thursday was a great example of coming off a really difficult weekend to bounce back with a strong result.’