Barisic more concerned with Rangers run than accolades

Borna Barisic insists his focus is on the fortunes of Rangers rather than himself after scoring a fortuitous winner against Ross County.

The Croatia left-back turned in an impressive performance, with a series of scintillating crosses from the flank deserving reward.

His free-kick, which kept the cinch Premiership points at Ibrox and maintained manager Michael Beale’s unbeaten run, had a touch of luck about it.

After Staggies striker Jordan White’s header had cancelled out Malik Tillman’s opener for the home side just before the break, Barisic’s 75th-minute free-kick from 20 yards took a nick off the County defensive wall and wrong-footed goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw.

Beale has won 11 and drawn one of his 12 matches since taking over as Gers boss in November and Barisic is more concerned with that impressive run of form than personal accolades.

He told RangersTV: “I am very happy myself, but as I have said a lot of times, it is not about one man and you can’t play good if the team is not playing good.

“We are playing good, we are in good shape and in good form – we still have a lot of things to improve but I think that is normal.

“We can’t just start overnight to play perfectly but the competition is bigger, the squad is bigger and you can see what we are doing in training.

“So I am very happy that the team played very well.

“I am very happy and very proud because (with the goal) I am helping the team to win, but as I said, the most important thing is the team playing good – every time someone will jump and be man of the match, but the most important thing is we are taking three points.

“It was a hard game but in the end we deserved to take the three points. We had a lot of chances that we didn’t score and we conceded from a set piece.

“Of course, in that moment the game was getting harder and harder but we scored the goal and in the end we deserved these three points.”

Despite the defeat, County manager Malky Mackay looked forward with confidence and believes the January transfer window has boosted their chances of improving on their 10th place spot.

He said: “We have kept games at Celtic and Rangers tight going into the last 15 minutes and the players should exude confidence and belief to kick on because there’s not a lot between the rest of the teams.

“I am really happy with the strength in depth I have coming out of the window.

“My bench is healthier and bringing in Eamonn Brophy and Simon Murray gives much-needed help to my forward line.”