Inside Rangers dressing room reaction to Tavernier axing as proud star gets one thing straight about maligned Ibrox ace
Jack Butland has expressed his pride after captaining Rangers to a vital Europa League point against Olympiacos in Greece – but insists the armband still belongs to bombed out James Tavernier.
The Englishman skippered Philippe Clement’s side to a 1-1 draw in Piraeus on Thursday night after the Gers boss decided to BENCH long-serving leader Tavernier ahead of kick-off – and former Manchester United and Crystal Palace stopper Butland reckons their performance must set the standard moving forward.
Much-maligned striker Cyriel Dessers silenced the raucous home crowd by snatching a deserved equaliser after Ayoub El Kaabi had broken the deadlock early in the second half. Clement opted to bring Tavernier on as a late substitute and while No.1 Butland described it as a huge honour to lead out his teammates, he paid his respect to the veteran right-back.
“It’s an honour to represent the club in Tav’s absence,” Butland admitted. “But he’s the captain. I was in Tav’s absence, but honoured to lead the team out and proud of the performance.
“Cyriel Dessers scored a big goal for us, which he has done on many occasions. We play so many games, we put him in and he works hard and doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. But it was a team performance and I was proud to lead the boys out. I think they earned their stripes.
“There are games I will be busier in, but I am as proud of that performance as any. It’s brilliant to see the boys play like that and we know that’s what we’re capable of. We really need to replicate that more often because we know we can do it.
“It’s a good result at a difficult place away from home. The boys were incredible, the fans were incredible and we can take a lot of confidence from that. We got punished for one moment and we didn’t deserve to be behind. It was about keeping the boys’ heads up and the confidence high.
“I just tried to reassure them, tell them to keep going and not to give up. We don’t do that and we have shown it on many occasions.”
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