"Mentally tough": Rangers ace makes Ibrox admission as he reveals key switch that is driving title dream

Oliver Antman - one of the club’s biggest summer signings - has had a tough start to life at Ibrox following his £4million move from Go Ahead Eagles, with a combination of form and injury stalling his progress.

Handed a first start in over two months during the Scottish Cup fifth round win, he backed up his impressive cameo in the 5-1 midweek win over Kilmarnock that saw him register a goal and assist in just 14 second-half minutes by providing a sublime cross for £4.8million signing Ryan Naderi.

Just the second time he has completed the full 90 minutes this season, the 24-year-old is desperate to play a part as Rangers chase a domestic double.

“Football changes really quickly,” admitted Antman. “I've experienced it many times in my career personally and also team wise. A lot of it is about confidence and, and once you start getting a couple of good games and good wins, things start to pick up and that's exactly what's going on right now. It's a real possibility that maybe the end of next week we are top of the table.

“At the moment, we are really confident in the team. But at the same time, we have to remember where we were at the start of the season. So we cannot be cocky about it, and stuff like that. We are really confident that we have the abilities to win the league and possibly the double."

The 24-year-old had an outstanding second-half of the campaign in the Eredivisie last season, leading Rangers to pay a sizeable sum to bring him to the Scottish Premiership. He impressed on his debut in a 2-0 victory against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League playoffs, but then struggled to make an impact as Rangers toiled in the opening months of the season. Just as new head coach Danny Rohl began to improve fortunes on the pitch, a muscle injury ruled Antman out for a number of weeks.

Having lost just two of his first 20 domestic games in charge, the German head coach now has Rangers into the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup, and just three points off the top of the Scottish Premiership ahead of a mammoth week that sees them visit fourth-placed Motherwell, before they welcome league leaders Hearts next weekend.

Much like his team, the Finland international is showing his own powers of recovery in the last week. Back in first-team contention after an uncertain January saw him linked with a potential return to the Netherlands, he’s registered three goal contributions in his last two games, having been offered a chance to impress.

“At this moment, It feels like we're flying and we have the momentum,” said the Finn. “So we just have to keep doing what we're doing and go game by game. The most important game is the next one and that's the mentality we have to have.

“I think you need to be mentally tough in this club, especially when things are not going that well. That is one place that I have some improvement on. I haven't had the best start of my Rangers career and then an injury. But I've always had belief in my own abilities. Before the injury, I didn't play the best football I can play.

"If I did play the best I could and that was the end result, then I think I should be a little bit more worried. But by knowing that I can do a lot better, I think it's just a matter of time until it shows. So that's the only thing I'm thinking about.

“He's [Rohl] done an incredible job, just about getting the confidence in the team. That's the biggest thing. I think at the start when he came, he also had couple of difficult games, but that's always going to happen. But then we had a couple of good games and things turn around. The couple of players that we got this window, I think they're going to be a big Improvement in the squad."

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