Connor Goldson insists it is better for Rangers to make some running repairs to their game plan now than wait for the roof to cave in on their title dreams.
The Ibrox side had a rare free midweek ahead of Sunday’s trip to Aberdeen and Steven Gerrard has used the extra time with his players on the training field to make some subtle tactical tweaks.
Gers have not been at their free-flowing best since suffering their only defeat of the season so far against St Mirren last month. But they have still had enough to bounce back with four straight wins – including last weekend’s pivotal Old Firm victory over Celtic which has opened up a 19-point lead at the top.
Now Goldson hopes the alterations Gerrard and his back-room team have introduced this week will lay down the foundations for another important result at Pittodrie.
The Ibrox defender said: “The Old Firm win was a big three points but you go from that to Aberdeen away, which is probably the second-toughest game of the season.
“Those and Hibs are probably the toughest away grounds to go to in this league, so we know what performance and intensity is needed to get us the three points.
“We’ve been working hard in training this week, making little tweaks and we want to improve when things are going well.
“We spoke about it this week. It’s better to fix the roof when the sun’s shining.
“Hopefully we don’t have to wait for a blip and we haven’t had to wait for a loss to work and improve.
“We worked all this week on adjustments we can make. We’ve watched clips of the last few games on how we can improve as a team and hopefully that leads us well into the next few games.”
Gerrard, meanwhile, is urging his team to stay in the here and now as he told them to block out memories of last year’s title challenge collapse as well as dreams of celebrations yet to come.
January has proved to be the defining month in both the Gers boss’ two previous seasons in charge, as his side twice allowed one bad result to spiral into full tailspins.
It appears to be a different story this term, however, and victory over the Dons would extend their lead to 22 points for 24 hours at least ahead of Celtic’s Monday night clash with Hibernian.
But Gerrard has cautioned his team not to let their thoughts wander any further than Sunday’s trip to the Granite City.
He said: “I have got total belief and confidence in my players, I always have had. We’re not a group of people who look back, we always try and look forward.
“We just beat a very good team last week in Celtic, we have won 14 on the spin, we are unbeaten in terms of the league.
“So that gives me confidence and belief that we are in a good place – but I know as well as anyone that form is only temporary.
“You have got to keep pushing, keep trying to max out, you have got to keep trying to raise the bar and face every challenge that comes our way.
“It is very important that we stay in the now, we don’t live in the past, or too far in the future.
“And the now is a tough challenge against Aberdeen. We are ready, we have prepared, we have had a bit of extra training time, which has been helpful. We reset and we get ready to try and win three points.”
