I’m not signing the ball ...your second was an OG Josh
Windass delighted to grab a hat-trick – even he couldn’t count on his gaffer’s backing
JOSH WINDASS celebrated putting pen to paper on a new Rangers deal with a hat-trick to help gun down Hamilton.
But the Light Blues hero revealed boss Graeme Murty threatened not to sign the match ball after claiming his second strike was an own goal.
Windass scored his second treble in just over two weeks in the 5-3 victory after also netting three in last month’s Scottish Cup win over Fraserburgh.
It came just days after he joined James Tavernier in committing himself to the Ibrox club with an improved deal until 2021.
But the first of his goals was a cock-up from Gary Woods as the Accies keeper clawed the ball into the net from a Windass strike. And the 24-year-old said: “I’m always going to claim it. It was on target so as far as I’m concerned it’s my goal.
“The manager wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t going to sign my ball although he did in the end. To be honest the other match ball is actually in the dog’s bed but because it’s signed I’ll leave this one in my room.
“I’d not scored a hat-trick before Fraserburgh and just to get one goal is nice but to get three is special.
“The second two were particularly enjoyable. They were two great set-ups from Jamie and Alfredo and they were easy finishes.
“It was a nice way to celebrate getting a new contract but the most important thing was to win the game. Talk about a new deal was mentioned a month or so ago but because of the transfer window they were put on hold.
“The club wanted to get all their transfer business done first so I was just trying to keep doing my best.
“It was an easy decision for me to make. I already had two and a half years left and it was good to improve it a little bit more.”
Alfredo Morelos also netted to take his tally to 16 for the season. But Windass is now just one behind and is hunting down The Buffalo at the top of the club scoring charts.
Rangers have scored more away goals than any other team in the Premiership with 32 in the top flight. Jamie Murphy was the other Ibrox player on the scoresheet as Murty’s men leapfrogged Aberdeen into second place after the Dons lost at Hibs on Saturday.
And with Celtic also slipping up with a draw at home to St Johnstone, the Light Blues could be just six points behind the leaders if they beat Hearts at Ibrox on Saturday.
Windass hopes to keep the pressure on Morelos with vital games coming up and said: “My scoring record is good and hopefully I can keep carrying it on.
“It’s difficult to keep scoring that many goals but I’ll give it a go.
“There’s healthy competition between us all. Me and Alfredo have a bit of banter going on about who is going to score the most. I’m also
competing against Tav and Daniel to see who will have most assists.
“That’s good to have in the team. And as long as one of us keeps scoring it doesn’t really matter.
“We’ve been second a few times and not been able to capitalise on it but we’re second again so hopefully we can make the gap bigger.
“That’s been our problem since I’ve been here. Under Mark Warburton we had a nine-point gap in second and they caught us. That was disappointing and we’re not going to let that happen this time.”
Windass admitted he’s delighted to have the fans chanting his name after sparking an angry reaction among some following his “zip it” celebration in the recent win over Partick Thistle. Murty had words with him over that but the forward said: “It wasn’t ever an issue in my brain, it was just a celebration.
“At the end of the day it was just a celebration and I do loads of celebrations.
“I wasn’t really worried. I just play my football and blank out any outside people, even my friends and family.
“I just try to concentrate on my game. But of course you would rather the fans are shouting your name rather than slag you off.
“But it’s all part and parcel of playing football. I’ll just try to play well and score goals – you can’t ask for any more.”
Hamilton have now suffered five straight defeats this year and face a massive home clash with fellow strugglers Partick Thistle on Saturday. Accies shot-stopper Woods is looking to bounce back from his howler after the stand-in captain’s mistake for the Windass goal.
Darren Lyon had given Accies an early lead and after Murphy levelled and Woods blundered, David Templeton netted the home side’s equaliser.
But Rangers stepped it up to blow them away despite Dougie Imrie’s late penalty.
Woods said: “I feel like I say the same things all the time but individual errors are costing us and I was guilty of one today.
“I haven’t seen it back and I don’t really want to. That’s the life of a goalkeeper. If you make a mistake then more often than not it ends up in the goal. David Templeton dug me out of a hole by getting it back to 2-2 and it’s forgotten about.
“And then for their third goal I made a good save but Jamie Murphy showed composure to knock it across for a goal.
“But from our point of view the defending wasn’t good enough.
“They shouldn’t be getting in that easy and if you score three goals against Rangers then you should take something from the game.
“It wasn’t to be and while we were quite good offensively it wasn’t good enough defensively. We’ve got to move on now.
“We’ve got some big games coming up, starting with Partick Thistle at home on Saturday, and we need to be picking up maximum points.”