Rangers renaissance man delivers 'excited' title vow and reveals moment that left him 'really disappointed'
Rangers midfielder ready to use disappointment as fuel to drive title challenge
Had you told Rangers fans after the 1-1 draw with Falkirk on October 5 that they’d be top of the Scottish Premiership with just six games left, they’d likely have questioned your sanity.
Rangers' worst start to a league season in 47 years, with just one win from their opening seven games, saw former boss Russell Martin receive a police escort in order to avoid a group of angry supporters. Trailing league leaders Hearts by 13 points, they were just four points from Aberdeen at the bottom of the table when his replacement Danny Rohl arrived.
Just 166 days on from their Falkirk horror show, they are top of the league following their 4-2 win over Dundee United on Saturday afternoon. One of their much-maligned summer signings, Thelo Aasgaard, played a starring role by getting on the scoresheet alongside Ryan Naderi, Dujon Sterling and Bojan Miovski.
At the top for the first time in 749 days, the Norwegian playmaker has told his teammates to embrace the excitement of the title race, and ensure their spot at the top isn’t surrendered in the weeks to come after such a monumental effort to get there.
“We’ve worked so hard to get here,” said Aasgaard. “The incentive was there, at the start of the game we knew what [going top] would have meant to the fans. Bit of a rollercoaster game. We’re really happy to score four goals, but we know we can do better. Overall, we are happy though and the only thing that matters at this stage is the win. To be top is huge for the squad, the other teams have games to play, but it’s all about adding pressure. That top spot is a nice place to be.
“There’s no fear of losing it, it’s more excitement to keep it going. No one is looking backwards now, it is all about going forwards. You’ve got to keep persistent. We take every game as it comes. No games is bigger or smaller than any other. The manager has emphasised that. These games are six cup finals, there’s no hiding it.
“We have to recover now, and go again. Credit has to be with the manager. We’ve had some games where we’ve drew and dropped points, but that’s when he’s got behind us the most. He knows we’ve got the quality, we know we’ve got the quality, so let’s kick on.”
Joining the club for £3million from Luton Town in the summer, Aasgaard has had somewhat of a rollercoaster season on a personal level. In and out of the starting XI throughout the campaign, he found himself occupying a spot on the bench throughout the last two months.
However, after grabbing an assist on his return to the team in the 4-1 win over Aberdeen a fortnight ago, the 23-year-old repaid Rohl’s faith in him once again by scoring his fifth goal of the season in the win over Dundee United.
“I was really disappointed to be left out of the Norway squad,” Aasgaard admitted. “But I feel like I’ve reacted well by being back in the team at Rangers. I’ll be honest, [not getting into] the Norway squad was a blow, but I’m strong mentally. At training it’s just about showing I can be a big part at Rangers, I just have to find the consistency and produce moments.”
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