Sport BLUE THUNDER
Hodson drafted in to shore up Rangers but scores winner
LEE HODSON marked only his second Premiership start of the season by emerging as the match-winner against Aberdeen at Ibrox — after being brought in to prevent goals at the other end.
Hodson represented one of five changes made by Mark Warburton to his Rangers team following the midweek defeat at Tynecastle, his inclusion at right-back coming at the expense of James Tavernier, whose slack positional play had twice been exploited by Hearts forward Robbie Muirhead.
Yet, while Hodson’s inclusion was defensive in design, the Northern Ireland cap strode forward to deliver a powerful finish which put Rangers two up in an eventual 2-1 victory — his first goal for the club.
‘It was a great feeling to see the ball hit the back of the net and score my first goal for Rangers,’ said the 25-year-old.
‘My last goal was against Colchester about two years ago. I’ve only got three or
four in my career so it was really pleasing to get on the scoresheet today.
‘It really doesn’t matter who scores the goals, as long as we’re winning. Everyone will play their part throughout the season. If I’m not playing I just get my head down and work hard because I know I’ll get an opportunity.’
Rangers went into the game under fire for their results against teams in the upper echelons of the league, having recorded just one victory against the sides that finished in the top half last season.
The manner of the loss at Hearts had hardened the criticism and Hodson
admitted the players knew they had to dig out their biggest performance of the season yesterday, with Kenny Miller putting the home side ahead in the 52nd minute.
‘The most important thing was to get three points — that was massive for us today,’ he said. ‘It was a great team performance. We dug in deep, fought to the end and showed a lot of character.
‘We showed how tight we are as a group of players, not just the 11 who started but the whole squad.
‘That togetherness really showed today. It was about the manner of the performance, that bit of steel. We proved that we can do it.
‘When it gets tough and there’s a battle, we can step up to the mark. We had to fight and that’s what got us the victory.’
Warburton admitted his team had been forced to abandon some of the finer aspects of his preferred method of play in order to grind out the result.
‘It’s a great result but I don’t think we controlled the football today and the stats will probably show that,’ he conceded. ‘But we did what we had to do today, we battled and stepped on.
‘We knew Aberdeen would press but Joe Garner is aerially very strong and poses a threat, so if we have to go that way to beat the press, do that. We were happy with it.’
Next up for Rangers is another encounter with Hearts at Ibrox next weekend, a game which will provide Warburton and his players an opportunity to underline their credentials for European qualification and a secondplace finish. Hodson hopes to be involved.
‘We can kick on now to Hearts next Saturday,’ he said. ‘If you dwell on the criticism, it can affect you as players. We knew we weren’t good enough on Wednesday night.
‘We knew we could do better and we showed that.’