TAV A BIT OF SENSE

Gers skipper calls for cool heads at Pittodrie

JAMES TAVERNIER last night warned his Rangers side not to get caught up in a Pittodrie powderkeg.

The Ibrox skipper says failure to keep a cool head could hammer a fatal nail into the team’s title chances.

Steven Gerrard’s troops have paid a heavy price this term for going a man down against Aberdeen.

On the opening-day, Alfredo Morelos’ red card later rescinded - left the 10 men to fight out a 1-1 draw and the Colombian was sent-packing again as Aberdeen won 1-0 at Ibrox.

Having also lost 1-0 to the Reds in the Betfred Cup, Tavernier knows the danger ahead of tonight’s crunch.

Tavernier, inset, said: “It does cost us when we have 10 men because all the lads have to work harder. We’ve done that quite a bit this season.

“The gaffer has spoken to the boys and has been consistent in the fact we’ve got to go there with a clear head and not get caught in any of the madness.

“The first Aberdeen game was disappointing. There was Alfredo and then to concede late in the game and the past two performances have not been good enough.

“We’ll be looking to correct that and we’ve got to come off the pitch with 11 men.” On Saturday, the right-back passed up the opportunity of a first-ever senior hat-trick to help get Jermain Defoe off the mark.

Despite scoring two penalties against St Mirren and having a chance to net a third, Tavernier handed the ball to Defoe to slam home his goal at Ibrox. He explained: “If giving up that goal helps Jermain find the net in the next run of games, then I’m happy that I did it.

“I don’t want to be selfish if I can help a team-mate go on and score more goals.

“Jermain asked if he could score his first home goal, so it was a decision I felt comfortable with to let him get on the scoresheet.”

Facing into a crucial week, Tavernier added: “We can’t afford to drop any more points because we’ve got to expect Celtic to win games, so it’s a must-win game against Aberdeen.

“We can’t draw and we have Kilmarnock [in the Scottish Cup] so we know this week has to be two wins to reach the next round and keep ourselves in a good position for the title.”