There may have been changes at Rangers this summer but one constant during the close season and indeed each of the past 10 years has been James Tavernier.
The Rangers captain has retained the armband under new head coach Russell Martin and addressed the media before Tuesday’s season-opening Champions League second qualifying round first leg at home to Panathinaikos.
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The Ibrox side and the Greek outfit are competing to face either Viktoria Plzen or Servette in the next round. Defeat would mean a Europa League third qualifying round meeting with Besiktas or Shakhtar Donetsk.
“Obviously, our objective is to get the win. It’s a fresh start for the club,” Tavernier said.
“We’re already excited to get behind it. It’s a new season and we obviously want to push ourselves to the very end.
“[Tuesday] night’s the most important game of our season so far. It’s our first game. We’ve got to take really take real advantage of being at Ibrox with our fans and try to take a good result going over to play in the second leg. We know it’s going to be a hot one over there in the second leg.
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“They’re going to be a tough test. It’s the first competitive have of our season. From the very first whistle, we need to put our stamp on the game. You have to set a tone, you have to set a tone in every single game.”
