‘TARGET IS NOW TO GO UNBEATEN UNTIL END OF SEASON’

We’ve been a huge letdown to whole club, says Tavernier

carry the can for the manner in which results have again slumped 12 months down the line. ‘It happened last year,’ lamented the 28-year-old right-back. ‘It’s really hard to swallow that we are doing this. ‘I know every one of the boys is disappointed as we have let the club and the fans down. That’s the worst part of it. ‘I know the gaffer takes a lot of the heat, but each one of us has to take the heat. ‘He’s taken the brunt for us all season, but this one is simply down to the players. ‘Every single one of us needs to look at ourselves.’ Asked if he felt they had also let down Gerrard, Tavernier added: ‘Yeah, definitely. He’s improved everything since he’s come in the door. ‘He’s improved the squad and, talent-wise, we know we are a better team (than Kilmarnock), but it’s how we apply ourselves and how we handle the pressure. ‘Simply enough, we didn’t handle the pressure at Kilmarnock.’ Not for the first time in recent weeks, Gerrard questioned the bottle of his players during his post-match comments in Ayrshire. Scrutiny on both manager and squad has intensified ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s home Premiership match against Livingston. With Rangers now relying on Celtic dropping points to rekindle their title hopes, the importance of a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hearts at Tynecastle later this month has increased. ‘All we can do now is try to be unbeaten until the end of the season and we’ll see where that takes us,’ added Tavernier. ‘We’re still in the Scottish Cup and the league, we’ve made it hard for ourselves. We’ll just have to see how it unfolds.’ Meanwhile, Kilmarnock have vowed to investigate after allegations emerged that Alfredo Morelos was racially abused by home fans during Wednesday night’s game. A statement from Kilmarnock last night read: ‘The club is aware of an incident of alleged racism against Alfredo Morelos and will investigate this matter fully. ‘Kilmarnock Football Club wholeheartedly condemns any form of racism and anyone found to be involved in incidents of this nature will be immediately banned from Rugby Park. ‘If anyone has any information then we would encourage them to come forward.’

JAMES TAVERNIER admits the Rangers players have let down Steven Gerrard, the club and the fans by suffering a post-winter-break collapse for the second successive season.

The Ibrox captain spoke about his anguish in the wake of Wednesday night’s 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock that left Gerrard’s side ten points behind Celtic in the title race.

Tavernier insists Rangers must now aim to go unbeaten for the rest of the campaign to try and salvage their trophy ambitions, but did not seek to hide from the significant damage already done.

All the momentum gained during the first six months of the season — heightened by an Old Firm victory at Parkhead on December 29 — has been blown after dropping eight points in six games since the league resumed.

The situation carries echoes of the previous term, which saw the Ibrox challenge unravel after they lost at Rugby Park in their first match after the break.

And Tavernier is clear the Rangers squad must