Pedro Mendes has urged Rangers fans to not give up their title hopes after being part of a historic Premiership winners comeback.
The Portuguese star featured in Walter Smith’s second spell at the Ibrox club and was part of the side that fought back in 2009 to seal the Championship on the final day at Tannadice. The Light Blues clawed back the points that season after trailing Gordon Strachan’s Celtic by seven at the half way point.
They headed to Dundee on another huge Helicopter Sunday knowing that a win at the home of the Arabs would crown them Champions. Mendes put his side two up with a sensational strike either side of goals from Kyle Lafferty and Kris Boyd to give Smith his first of a hat-trick of titles. And Mendes has told Rangers fans to "take heart" from the past, after cheekily admitting that his side "never stopped."
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Speaking to Grovensor Sport, Mendes said: “I think we were seven points behind at one stage in January/February – so I hope the Rangers fans take heart from this – and we won the title on the last day."
Rangers are in a similar position to 2009 but currently trail their Glasgow rivals by nine points with just 13 games remaining. And Mendes has told Michael Beale's side what it will take if they are pull off a remarkable comeback.
He added: “We never stopped. We were so determined to win back those points and finish first. We had a great team spirit. We had so many strong characters in that dressing room.
“We had that knack of pulling ourselves up and we went to Dundee United on the last day of the season knowing if we won the game we would be champions and we beat them 3-0.
“We had some great players – Kris Boyd up top, for example. I loved to play beside Kevin Thomson, Sasa Papac, David Weir – there were so many great characters. Kevin was someone who always covered my back.”
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