Rangers’ James Tavernier insists he won’t hand over another penalty

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Glasgow Rangers skipper James Tavernier allowed Jermain Defoe to score from the spot at Ibrox last time out.

James Tavernier has told Rangers’ official YouTube channel that he will not be handing over anymore penalties to one of his teammates after allowing Jermain Defoe to score from 12 yards out at the weekend.

In a surreal game that saw the Gers awarded four spot-kicks on their way to a 4-0 win against St Mirren, Tavernier showed his class by allowing Defoe to take the side’s fourth penalty.

The decision was particularly notable as Tavernier missed the second spot-kick, so gave away a golden chance to complete a hat-trick to allow Defoe to mark his home debut for the Light Blues with a goal of his own.

But Tavernier insisted that he will not be handing over the ball to anyone else in the Rangers side after discussions following the game.

“I think we cleared that up the other day,” he told Rangers’ official YouTube channel.

“But it’s something I decided to do, give Jermain the ball to score on his first home game. But we made it clear that if I’m on the pitch, I will be taking the penalties.”

It arguably says a lot about the team spirit within the current Gers team that Tavernier was happy to allow Defoe to have the ball. Most would have been very surprised that the right-back decided against taking the kick himself and completing his treble.

And that team spirit amongst Gerrard’s squad is going to be crucial as they look to claw back the six points that separate Rangers from the current Scottish Premiership leaders.