James Tavernier admitted Rangers were left ruing their missed chances after being held to a 1–1 draw by Braga at Ibrox, a result that leaves their UEFA Europa League hopes hanging by a thread.
Speaking after the match, the captain gave an honest assessment: “It’s really frustrating.
“I felt we missed the opportunity tonight and we should have taken all three points,” Tavernier said.
“Throughout the game we needed to be more clinical and a bit more patient, especially in the final third.
“Against ten men, you have to work the ball better and make the right decisions.”
Tavernier was adamant that the match should have been out of sight long before the late setback.
“In games like this, you’ve got to be clinical in both boxes. I’ll always back my players and everyone makes mistakes, but we should have had that game wrapped up before that happened.
“That’s what hurts.”
Despite the setback, he stressed that the campaign is not mathematically over.
“It’s not over. We know the next game is must-win.
“When you play for Rangers, the expectation is to win every single game, and that’s what the fans expect.
“We’ll go into the next one looking for three points again.”
Asked whether the draw came down to a lack of decisiveness at either end, he agreed: “Yes. We’ve spoken about this before and we have to learn from nights like this and be more patient.
“The fans want goals, of course they do, but we’ve got to do it the right way and create real chances.”
Tavernier also felt Rangers were slow out of the blocks: “The first 20 minutes we started too slowly.
“After that we let go of the handbrake and really went after them but that should’ve been from the start.
“That was the game plan, but it took longer than we wanted.”
He finished by urging the squad to respond immediately.
“We’ve shown more consistency in the last couple of weeks with what we’re trying to build.
“It’s a quick learning lesson and now we’ve got an important league game at the weekend.
“We have to go into it and take three points - no matter what.”
Rangers return to league action on Sunday as Falkirk visit Ibrox. With Rangers 5th and Falkirk 6th heading into the match – the Bairns have the chance to leapfrog Rangers with a victory.