Time for another THUNDER HOLT
Jason wants to find net against old club Jambos to kill league goal duck
Jason Holt is desperate to smash his Premiership scoring duck against his old gaffer Robbie Neilson.
But it’s not to gain revenge for the way Hearts dumped him in summer 2015 that he wants to find the net at Tynecastle on Wednesday.
Rangers midfielder Holt just wants to tame the burning anguish that’s weighing him down at failing to net a league goal this term.
The 23-year- old scored the best goal of his career against Rangers – a blistering drive from the edge of the box to secure a priceless win for his former club.
But he said: “I would take any goal at the moment.
“I’ve been frustrated I haven’t been converting the chances I’ve been getting on the end of.
“There’s no extra motivation for me because I’m playing my former club. I just want to score.
“Moving on from a club is part and parcel of football – players come and go all the time. It was just another case of that really.
“At the time I was let go you don’t know what is going to happen or where you’re going to end up.
“But I’ve ended up here at Rangers and I’m really happy with how things have panned out.”
Ibrox gaffer Mark Warburton has been bigging up Holt and team-mate Andy Hal liday, claiming both players could easily star for Gordon Strachan’s Scotland.
However, Holt accepts he’ll need to start scoring if he’s going to force his way into the national team.
In his first season at Ibrox he smashed 12 goals in 45 games as Rangers clinched the Championship and promotion back to the top flight.
But he’s not the only one in the Rangers side who’s struggling in front of goal – team-mates Mar tyn Waghorn and James Tavernier have just one league goal apiece this term.
Holt’s only strike this season came in Rangers’ 5- 0 Betfred Cup rout against Queen of the South at Ibrox.
He’s anxious to rediscover his scoring touch and has been staying behind at the club’s training complex for extra target drills. He said: “It’s something I’m frustrated with.
“Last season I managed to grab myselfy a decent number of goals which I was happy with. Obviously, this year we are up in the Premiership but I have had a number of chances.
“I have been trying to work on my finishing, getting better at that and putting some away when tthe chances come along.
“It is easier said than done but I would be a bit more worried if I wasn’t getting into
the positions to score in the first place. “Right now I’m getting into those positions but it’s just about taking the opportunities once I’m there. “It’s maybe a case of once you get one you go on and get a few, it just happens for you. That’s the case a lot of the time and I hope that’s what will happen with me.” Ironically, Holt’s last goal at Tynecast le was the 20- yard screamer that broke the deadlock for the Jambos in a 2- 0 home win against Gers two years ago this month. His stunning strike helped Neilson’s men clinch the Championship title ahead of Rangers and Holt said: “It was an important match at the time and I just wanted to go out and do well in it. “I scored the opening goal, which is always important and I enjoyed it.
“It’s one of the best I’ve ever scored but I never dreamed then I’d be playing for Rangers in the future. It was good I scored it then but I’m a Rangers player now.”
Jason doesn’t even know if he’ll go ballistic if he beats Jambos keeper Jack Hamilton this week or if he’ll refuse to celebrate scoring against his former club.
He said: “I haven’t thought about it – it hasn’t even crossed my mind.
“My uncles are Hearts seasonticket holders and they’ve sent me texts saying they are look forward to seeing me on Wednesday.
“It’ll be the first time I’ve been back at Tynecastle as a player since I left so that will be good for me.
“I’m looking forward to it but I’m not sure what kind of reception I’ll get from the home fans – we’ll need to wait and see. Tynecastle is a great
stadium to play in though. I checked the fixture list as soon as it was published and knew I’d be returning there in November.
“When I was a Hearts player, and Celtic or Rangers came, the atmosphere was always electric.
“I’m sure it will be similar on Wednesday night. Sometimes it’s better playing under the floodlights at Tynecastle – it adds an extra edge – but our ambition is to take all three points and to do what we normally do on the ball.
“The Jambos will want to make things difficult for us.
“The fans are right on top of you there and it does seem like a tighter pitch but we’ll deal with it.
“We’ve come up against that in the past and we won’t change what we do – that won’t change at all.
“Now I just have to keep improving and getting better and I am sure that will happen under the manager.”