Tavernier was speaking to Sky Sports after Rangers’ 2-1 win over Livingston.
What did you make of that game?
Happy with the three points, disappointed with the first half that we conceded a sloppy goal and made it hard for ourselves. But we showed great character to get back and play the football that we wanted to play, especially in the second half. We got the goals and saw it out.
What went wrong in the first half?
It just comes from a long ball and not competing. The guy runs off us, puts it in the net and we make it hard for ourselves. They’ve put in a block so we need to move the ball quicker, second half we really came out with purpose and showed great character.
Was patience really important?
45 minutes is a lot of time when you’re 1-0 down. We just had to keep going and keep pushing. We could have had more, their keeper has made some great saves, but we’re delighted to have three points on the board.
Were you happy to eventually score with a cross?
You don’t want to make it easy by going side-to-side and not committing them to anything. You’ve got to keep them under pressure and that’s why we were mixing it up, getting crosses in and trying to make combinations around the box. It paid off. This will make us stronger, we will work hard on the training pitch and make amends.
©️ "We showed great character. This will make us stronger."
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) July 30, 2022
Matchwinner James Tavernier reflects on Rangers' 2-1 win at Livingston and talks us through that strike 👇 pic.twitter.com/EbQTXJEPSI
Was the momentum with you at 1-1?
Definitely, it started from Antonio [Colak] getting the offside goal. The momentum was there, we just kept it going. Ryan Kent put in some great crosses today and I thought Malik Tillman was unlucky with his shot. We just kept pushing, kept at it and the rewards followed.
Talk us through the goal?
Borna [Barisic] tried the same side because the keeper gambled a little bit [with his positioning]. Connor [Goldson] came up to me and just said ‘do the same’ so I placed it and I’m delighted it went in.
Have you set a season target?
I wanted a clean sheet today, so I’m disappointed about that but I’ll try and help the team as much as I can with goals and assists.
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