James Tavernier feared Old Firm games were going to be the death of him during his first few painful derby experiences. But the Rangers captain insists he learned to keep a lid on the emotions and he’s out to prove today his side are still alive and kicking in the Premiership.
Tavernier is a veteran of 27 of these dust ups now. His record of eight wins, 17 losses and two draws might not make the best of reading but in there was a run of eight without defeat on the way to wrestling the title back to Ibrox and killing Celtic’s 10-in-a-Row bid. There have also been a couple of sore ones in recent seasons though, with 3-0 and 4-0 reverses leaving a mark on the Light Blues.
But Tavernier has learned to roll with the punches and he admitted the encounter doesn’t fill him with the same sense of dread it did in the past. He said: “I’d say, especially in the first few games, you hear all the noise around the game and you don’t really know what to expect, so you build it up as the absolute biggest game. If you lose you feel like you are going to die.
