soccer

'Embrace what it means to be part of this club' - Butland

Goalkeeper Jack Butland is urging his Rangers team-mates to embrace the noise around Sunday's top-of-the-table clash against leaders Hearts.

Derek McInnes' men have already beaten Rangers home and away this season as they prepare for the trip to Glasgow's southside.

For Danny Rohl's men, Sunday is an opportunity to bounce back from the midweek draw with Motherwell and cut the gap at the top to two points.

"Embrace it," Butland said of the noise and hype around the fixture.

"You can't get away from it. We spoke about it a lot. Good, bad, and ugly, so you're going to hear about it at some point, so you just have to embrace it.

"Embrace what it means to be a part of this club, embrace what it means to be in a great position still with a fantastic game coming on the weekend."

When Rohl took over Rangers were 13 points behind the league leaders but Butland insists their impressive comeback means nothing if they don't kick on.

"What the season started like is irrelevant now because we're now in a position where things can be really good," he added.

"So, the expectations have changed, the energies change, and now we're in a positive place again.

"When you get there, the expectation is that you just kick on and just keep flying. It's not as easy as that but we're in a great position.

"There's going be plenty of twists and turns, but everything is still very much in our hands and whoever wants to grasp it will have the best opportunity to win it in the end.

"For us, we certainly have that opportunity still and a great opportunity at home in front of all our fans on the weekend to really keep that going.

"There's still 12 games to go. The focus is winning the game. That's what we're setting out to do in every game.

"There's a long, long way to go, still, but it is hugely important.

"We're focused on trying to win every game. But one step at a time and that starts on Sunday."

Read full story at Yahoo Sport →