James Tavernier has sights set on haul of major trophies

Rangers captain James Tavernier is determined to complete the set of major trophies in Scottish football after revelling in the euphoria of their Scottish Cup triumph last season.

Tavernier won a Championship and Challenge Cup double in his first season in Scotland but missed out on the Scottish Cup that same year when Rangers lost to Hibernian in the final.

The right-back had to wait a further five years before getting his hands on his first piece of major silverware but the joy over their 2021 title success was tempered by the fact they received the trophy in an empty stadium.

Rangers beat Hearts at Hampden in May last year days after missing out on the Europa League on penalties against Eintracht Frankfurt and the feeling of lifting the Scottish Cup has further whetted Tavernier’s appetite for glory in Sunday’s Viaplay Cup final against Celtic.

Recalling the moment he finally got his hands on the Scottish Cup, the 31-year-old said: “It’s a true honour and words can’t really describe how much you feel. It’s so much enjoyment. It’s not just myself, it’s the full team, the club, the fans, everyone’s families who come to support and you just want to continue to give that.

“That’s what we all signed up for to play for Rangers, to win trophies, and we will be doing everything possible on Sunday to make that happen.

“The first one was behind closed doors and the Scottish Cup final was in front of our fans and it was a different experience. It was amazing to do that in front of your own fans.

“To have that feeling, you just want to continue to have more of that and what a great opportunity we have to play in a cup final this early in the season and try and get our hands on it.

“Personally it would mean completing all three trophies. It’s something I want to do and we have got a great opportunity to do that at the weekend.”

Rangers have won 13 games and drawn the other, against Celtic, since former first-team coach Michael Beale returned to Ibrox to take over as manager.

Tavernier said: “The momentum has really been there with the results that we wanted.

“We know that performance-wise there have been games where we felt that we could improve, which is a good thing because winning games and still not being at the top level we need to be, we know there is room for improvement.

“We will continue to work hard every day on the training pitch to make sure we show that on a match day and hopefully that all falls into place on Sunday.

“We want to keep this momentum going. Since November when the gaffer came in, we all knew what he wanted us to do in his game plan, so it was a smooth process.

“Our target from day one was to win every single game and see where it takes us. That’s what we will continue to do until the end of the season.”

Celtic started brightly at Ibrox on January, but Rangers came back into the game and were moments away from victory before Kyogo Furuhashi made it 2-2.

The derby was only Beale’s fifth game in charge and Tavernier feels Rangers can improve on their performance.

“We really felt we should have come away with the three points,” he said. “But, on saying that, with the game, that happens.

“I thought we could have played better in the first half at Ibrox and the second half we were much better. So we know there is still more to give in a game like that and we came away disappointed that we got the draw. So there’s plenty of positives to take from that.

“We have got a game plan to take into Sunday and as long as we stick to that and apply ourselves from the very first minute and carry it out to the end of the game, then hopefully we will be picking up the trophy.”