‘We have to get the three points against Hearts – no matter what,’ says Rangers captain James Tavernier

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

Danny Rohl’s side had the chance to go three points behind the Jambos when they travelled to Fir Park on Wednesday night and they got off to an encouraging start when midfielder Nico Raskin gave the visitors the lead after just six minutes with a well-worked goal.

However, Jens Berthel Askou’s impressively expansive side took control of the game for the most part before they were reduced to 10 men in the 78th minute when Lukas Fadinger was sent off for a foul on Gers attacker Mikey Moore, his yellow card upgraded by referee Steven McLean following a check on his pitchside monitor.

The Light Blues looked no more assured with the numerical advantage and in the final minute of normal time Well centre-back Stephen Welsh, back for a second loan spell from Celtic, took advantage of slack defending to fire past Rangers keeper Jack Butland from close range, leaving the Light Blues five points behind Hearts and just one ahead of the Hoops, who have a game in hand.

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.’