The Ibrox captain has received criticism for Rangers mistakes and missed penalties recently.
The club captain has made a number of mistakes resulting in opposition goals this season, also missing three penalties.
It’s led some to question his continued involvement in Steven Gerrard’s side right now.
Is there a case for the right-back to be dropped or rested in favour of the mostly unseen Matt Polster?
Boyd is backing the defender to prevail and have a more positive say on Rangers’ season than a negative one. He doesn’t think the pressure on his shoulders will see him wilt and regress.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the pundit said: “There have been big players who have come to Rangers and Celtic and crumbled. I have yet to see James Tavernier crumble and I don’t expect him to either.
“He has that arrogance, in a good way. For me, over the course of a 50-game season I think he will have a big impact in 40 of them.
“In the bigger games he’ll be asked questions defensively but that is the modern-day full-back. Their weakness now is defending.”
Tavernier’s positives
Although the defending of the right-back this season has left a lot to be desired, he continues to be an effective attacking outlet on the right flank. That will likely never change.
This season he’s already scored three goals and assisted nine times. The creative side to his game whether from set pieces or from the wings is second to none when it comes to defenders in Scotland.
That’s why he deserves patience and support from Gerrard.
However, he perhaps could do with being rested and not selected as much as he has been. Only Connor Goldson has played more minutes than him this season.
If he’s fresher for the bigger matches, perhaps he would be quite so stretched and fans may end up respecting as much as they once did.
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