LOOKING back at selected highlights of Rangers’ draw with Spurs at Ibrox will be a pleasurable experienced for Jack Butland and his team mates today.
Phillipe Clement’s men were inspired against Ange Postecoglou’s feted charges in the Europa League encounter in Govan last night and were unfortunate not to have recorded a famous Battle of Britain triumph at the end of the 90 minutes.
Goalkeeper Butland was hardly tested, captain James Tavernier was back to his old self, Nicolas Raskin and Mohammed Diomande dominated the midfield, Ridvan Yilmaz and Vaclav Cerny caused the visitors all kinds of problems out wide and Hamza Igamane, who opened the scoring early in the second half, impressed up front.
Watching their excellent all-round display will raise the Rangers players’ confidence levels no end before their Premier Sports Cup final against Celtic at Hampden on Sunday.
It is fair to say, though, that picking through their abject first half performance in the William Hill Premiership draw with Dundee United in Govan last month, a result which left them no fewer than 11 points behind their city rivals in the table, was not so enjoyable.
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But Butland has credited that painful post mortem with kick starting their season and being responsible for the improved form they have shown both at home and abroad since.
“Look, we debrief everything,” said the former England internationalist. “There were things that we didn't do in the first half of that game. It wasn't about the goal that we conceded. It was about what we didn't do, perhaps the position and the work rate. We just didn't quite get on the same page with in the first half.
"In the second half of that game, we had it and we created enough chances to win two or three games. But sometimes things will go your way and sometimes it doesn't. It didn't that day and we got punished for it.
“Perhaps you never want to take those lessons, but perhaps it was just a case of one too many warning signs. We had to say, ‘Right, these are the reasons why these games are becoming difficult - it's because we're not knocking down the door early, we're not getting these chances and we're making it difficult for ourselves’.
“I think in recent weeks we've learned from that and shown the opposite in that sense. We have really taken the game to people, which is what we need to do.”
"That's a testament to how well the boys played - that we're a little bit disappointed at the same time as being really proud of what we did.”
Butland, the vastly experienced former Birmingham City, Stoke City, Leeds United and Crystal Palace player, was always convinced that Rangers, who have recorded wins over Nice, St Johnstone, Kilmarnock and Ross County since, had the ability to turn their campaign around.
“That's how quick it can change,” he said. “If you put in the performances, you put in the work and you work for each other, you're then in better positions to show the quality that the boys have. When we play as a collective unit like that, we can cause any team problems and we showed that tonight.
“So, really proud of that. It's been coming. Too long coming perhaps, but we're getting there. We're building some momentum and it's important that we continue that on Sunday.
“We have to continue it against Celtic. We have to look back at the Spurs game, examine the things we could have done better, the things that we did do really well and take the confidence from it. But it's proof of what we are capable of doing. So, it should give everybody lots of confidence and being ready for the weekend."
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Asked about Rangers having their chances of enjoying a successful season written off after the United draw, Butland said: “That's what people tend to do with this club and hopefully time and time again we continue to disappoint people and get back to where we should be. It's a long journey.
“There's still things that we need to improve, but we're getting there and the work ethic and desire in the group and around the club is to be successful. We really want that. That doesn’t change. We'll debrief this and we'll get ready for Sunday.
“This run has done an awful lot for us, because winning is a habit and if you don't do smaller things right, that can lead into doing bigger things wrong and ultimately results not going your way.
“So, we've really focused on getting some basics right that perhaps we lost at times. That's just allowed us to be solid, keep clean sheets and pick up results. That's given us the opportunity to build momentum.”
Butland was delighted with how well both Raskin and Igamane acquitted themselves against Spurs and knows the Belgian midfielder and Moroccan striker will both be eager to eager to pick up where they left off against Celtic at Hampden on Sunday.
"But so many were last night. I thought Dio was fantastic as well. Tav [James Tavernier] was brilliant and so was Jef [Jefte]. They're dealing with some real attacking threats and they were top. So Nico was brilliant, but s was everyone else. We need more of that on the weekend.”
He added: “Hamza has been excellent. Obviously, he wasn’t available for a while to begin with. He had that injury and he's overcome that. But you're now seeing a player that's playing with a lot of confidence, with a team of players around him who are now playing with a lot of confidence and putting it in areas where he can show what he's about.
“What he does bring is not just the goals that he's come up with in recent weeks, but the physicality and the skill level that he's got as well. So, we're really pleased with how he's performing. It's great to see. But we want more from him as well.”
