Danny Rohl reveals Rangers question his squad 'can't stop asking' and provides transfer and injury updates
Rangers boss makes transfer window admission after win over St Mirren at Ibrox
Rangers head coach Danny Rohl believes his squad is rediscovering their love of football after their 2-1 win over St Mirren saw them close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership to six points.
The 36-year-old boss secured an eighth win in 11 league matches thanks to goals from Thelo Aasgaard and Emmanuel Fernandez either side of half-time at Ibrox, and will now aim to leapfrog Celtic in second place when the two sides meet at Parkhead this Saturday.
“I think when you look back to this year when we played against them [St Mirren], we couldn't win these games,” said Rohl. “I think 75 minutes, we played a fantastic game today in ball possession and against the ball. One moment you concede a goal, which is always possible against this team because they are very strong, they have a good size, very physical. Then in the end you cross all the fingers that you come over the line and we did.
“This is fantastic, the next three points on the table. I think it was a good finish in the year and now we have hopefully a good start in the year. The belief is there that we can win games. I think when I took over the group, the belief to win games was not so high at the moment. You look in the dressing room and they ‘ask when is the next game?’. I think this is great. But it's a long, long, long journey to go.
“We spoke about making the next step, we make the next step. In football it's not about two or three games, it's about ten, eleven games to be consistent. At the moment we are doing this. I am really happy today how we played in possession, 75 minutes, a huge step forward against a very good organised team. Not easy to break them down, but we created a lot of good moments. Everything goes in the right direction, but we cannot do one more step less. Now we have to do more steps forward to be successful.”
Rohl also addressed the club’s plans in the transfer plans, with several names already linked to Rangers in the days leading up to the transfer window re-opening on Thursday, while he provided an injury update on defender Dujon Sterling, who was absent from the matchday squad in the win against the Saints.
“I think we missed Dujon today,” said Rohl. “It was about load management. It was not possible to give him again minutes after a long, long injury. John [Souttar] did well. It was also not easy to sub him out, but it was again, I have to protect him for a new injury. We are in talks, we are clear what we want to do with him and let's see now in which direction it goes. But I am very positive and hopefully more players are back for the next game.
“I think we know the window is not easy, but we are on front foot,” smiled Rohl. “What it means at the end, let's see. We cannot influence everything, but we are at the moment clear. We know that in some positions, we have to wait for the right timing. I see that we are really convinced of what we want to do. At the moment, we are straight.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.