Barron insists there will be no let up from Rangers after dramatic Old Firm triumph puts them back in title race


Connor Barron insists Rangers will keep their foot firmly to the floor after roaring their way back into the title race.

A 3-1 win at Celtic Park on Saturday saw Rangers move level on points with their bitter rivals, with pacesetters Hearts holding a six-point lead at the top.

Rangers have wiped out a nine-point deficit to Celtic and were 13 points behind Hearts at one stage earlier in the season.

But after claiming the biggest result of Danny Rohl’s reign so far, they now face Aberdeen in back-to-back games over the next week.

The Ibrox side have been guilty in previous seasons of slacking off and failing to capitalise on statement wins, but Barron is confident they will stay grounded.

‘Every win, you get that belief and you get that excitement, but this is just another win for us,’ said the midfielder.

Connor Barron battles with Celtic’s Luke McCowan during Saturday’s Old Firm match

Barron congratulates Yousef Chermiti after he scored Rangers' equaliser at Celtic Park

Barron congratulates Yousef Chermiti after he scored Rangers’ equaliser at Celtic Park

‘It was obviously derby day and a lot of talk around the game, but you’ve got to block that out.

‘You’ve got to go and do your job, which we did, and now we look forward to Aberdeen again, so it’s taking it game by game.

‘It definitely gives us belief. You always have to carry belief to win matches. That’s just football.

‘You’ve just got to block out the noise and concentrate on what we’re good at as a team and what we can do to win. We got the result we wanted and we go again on Tuesday.

‘Obviously nobody’s stupid. We all look at the league table. We’re all in football, but it’s our job to stay focused.

‘As I say, the game comes again on Tuesday, thick and fast, and we’ve got another one after that. We’ve just got to keep focused.

‘We don’t concentrate on the table. We concentrate on what we’ve been working on and what we can do as a team to win matches.

Barron praised Danny Rohl for the half-time tactical tweaks that led to Rangers' ascendancy

Barron praised Danny Rohl for the half-time tactical tweaks that led to Rangers’ ascendancy

‘We’re in a good place at the moment, but it’s important we stay grounded and we keep going.’

Rangers trailed 1-0 at half-time to a goal from Yang Hyun-jun. Rohl’s side were disjointed in a first half which saw Celtic dominate for large periods.

But the second half was a total reversal. Rangers were excellent whilst Celtic capitulated to heap further pressure on the beleaguered Wilfried Nancy.

Barron praised Rohl for tweaking the shape of the team and finding a way for Rangers to cause Celtic problems in the second half.

‘Going behind wasn’t nice, obviously, but at half-time we made a few tweaks tactically and in our formation,’ he said. ‘We got after them a lot better in the second half and it paid off.

‘We tweaked the formation, which made us a bit more dominant going forward and a bit more of a threat in the transition.

‘I felt, pressing-wise, we were a bit off it in the first half, so we got closer as well. All these little messages were in the changing room.

‘But, as I say, it’s little tweaks and all the boys picked up on it well and we went out there and done it.

‘The belief was there from the start and even when we go a goal down, we still believe we can get back in the game. It was real good character from the boys to get back in it.

‘I thought we showed real discipline at times and we seen the game out at the right moments, so it was a real character performance from the boys.’

Leave a Comment