James Tavernier accepts Rangers’ weekend clash with Hearts as ‘must-win game’

Rangers captain James Tavernier concedes the “missed opportunity” against Motherwell has left Sunday’s clash with William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts at Ibrox a must-win game.

With the potential for Derek McInnes’s side to go eight points clear when they visit Govan at the weekend, Tavernier said: “Every game’s a must-win, but with their lead in the table, obviously it’s a must-win if you want to compete for the title. “So we have to get the three points, no matter what. “I think if you’ve seen the course of the season, we’ve responded. “We obviously don’t want to put ourselves in these situations, and from now, with 12 games to go, we can’t really be having any of these situations going forward. “So we’ve got to obviously show different ways of how to win and see games out when we’re not looking overly at our best. “It’s obviously a massive game on the weekend. “Every game’s massive, but it’s at home and we’ve got to really be on the front foot against another good team who’ve been doing well this season and get the three points. “It’s a young squad. We’ve had ups and downs this season and then I felt that as young as the squad is, they’ve really came round and really grew as a group. “These are pivotal moments in the season, where you come down to the last stretch and you’re really going for the title and you’re in the title race. “So you can’t afford to have slip-ups like this, but we know it’s obviously a missed opportunity. “We got a point and now we have to respond and get three points at home.”