TALKING RANGERS
THE pain of defeat and the adrenaline of battle kept James Tavernier awake. His choice of viewing always had the potential to give him nightmares.
The right-back returned home last Wednesday night with the loss to Hearts still fresh in his mind. So, too, were the mistakes that cost his side dear at Tynecastle.
Tavernier was at fault for both goals as Robbie Muirhead netted in either half to ensure Robbie Neilson’s final game in charge of the Jambos was a victorious one.
But the 25-year-old was never going to hide away or look to downplay his part in a defeat that piled the pressure on Mark Warburton and his players.
Instead, Tavernier sat down and watched the action unfold all over again. It was tough to witness second time around, but he is confident it will help him improve in the future.
“I was especially disappointed with the second goal,” he said.
“I’ve gone into midfield to close one of their players down, then the guy has run from the left-back position into the space. I should have just defended the ‘maybe’ situation and that goal would definitely have been cut out.
“The first one was a cross into the back post, so there are definitely things I can learn from.
“You have to make mistakes to learn from certain situations, so that’s only going to make me better in the future.
“I’m always really tough on myself after I’ve had a bad game. The two days after that game were really tough and it’s something you just need to get your head around.
“I watched the game when I got home. I normally go to bed late after a midweek game, in the early hours of the morning, because I have so much adrenaline still running around.
“So I watch it to see what the good things and bad things were from it.
“That was obviously a hard one to watch because of the two mistakes which took everything else away from the game for us.
“Mentally, you have to get yourself in a better place after a couple of days. That’s what I’ve done. I’m back to my normal self now.”
THE emotions were still raw for Tavernier when Rangers returned to Auchenhowie and the recovery process began once again.
Warburton only had a couple of days to rally his troops and prepare the Gers for the visit of Aberdeen and another hugely significant outing in the battle for second spot t his season.
Tavernier was one of the Tynecastle starters that paid the price for a sloppy showing as he dropped out of the Light Blue line-up and was replaced by Lee Hodson.
The Northern Irish international would make the most of his chance to impress as he scored the second goal of the game in a manof-the- match winning performance. It was another blow to Tavernier, but it is another challenge he is determined to rise to and respond to as he looks to reclaim his rightback berth against Hearts today. Tavernier said: “He just wants me to have a positive attitude to his decision.