Raskin going from strength to strength at Rangers

Nicolas Raskin believes he is going from strength to strength at Rangers as he looks forward to the ViaPlay Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park next Sunday.

The 21-year-old midfielder joined the Ibrox club from Standard Liege during the January transfer window, and after a substitute appearance against Ross County and a starting debut in the Scottish Cup against Partick Thistle last week, he made his first cinch Premiership start against Livingston in the 3-0 win at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Saturday.

Speaking to RangersTV, Raskin said: “I am finding it good, the boys are very good with me, they help me a lot so I am very happy.

“On the pitch but also on the training ground I am learning more.

“I have been here now just for two or three weeks so I just need to continue talking with the boys and as more time passes, we will keep building a connection and it will be even better.

“Everybody is talking about the cup final now, and I can’t wait to be there and feel the atmosphere of our fans.”

Skipper James Tavernier scored a double, the first from the spot and the second with a wonderful free-kick and substitute Kemar Roofe added a third as the home side ended the game with 10 men after Stephane Omeonga was sent off by referee David Dickinson in the 77th minute for a second yellow card offence.

Rangers remain nine points behind Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership and Michael Beale has now won 13 and drawn one since he took over as Gers boss.

Raskin said: “I think we started OK, we should’ve maybe scored more in the first half but in the second half I thought it was very good. We attacked a lot, we created chances, we scored two goals, so I think we did the job well.

“It was very nice to play in the second half because we had more control, we played well with each other and we scored goals so it was very enjoyable.

“We are all happy with the clean sheet, we get confidence from that and it is making everybody happy.”

Livingston boss David Martindale was unhappy with both the Rangers penalty and the second yellow card for Omeonga who tangled with Roofe but he is looking for some good news on the injury front with striker Bruce Anderson, who missed the game with a knock.

He said: “Anderson wasn’t a million miles away and should train on Monday. I just didn’t want to aggravate it.”