I'VE BIG HEAD START IN THE PENALTY BOX

MANNY FERNANDEZ reckons he's pretty well unstoppable when it comes to attacking crosses in opposition boxes.

- BY ANDY NEWPORT

The giant Rangers centre-back hopes there will be no holding him back now he’s been given a chance at last by new boss Danny Rohl - and after he opened the scoring in the controversial 2-1 win over Livingston at Ibrox on Saturday.

At 6ft 4in, not many measure up against the towering Londoner. But Fernandez has struggled to reach the required standard at Ibrox so far following his £2.5million move from Peterborough.

Russell Martin and Kevin Thelwell, the sporting director, had big plans for him when signing him in the summer, but they came crashing down as Gers sacked their boss after just 123 days in charge.

Rohl is now the man picking the team and was forced to turn to Fernandez as an injury crisis saw John Souttar and Derek Cornelius ruled out for the Premiership clash with the Lions.

It was only the 24-year-old’s third start of the season but he made the most of it, leaping high to nod in on nine minutes.

But Fernandez knows he'll have to hit the heights in his performances if he’s to keep his place on Rohl's starting lineup.

He said: “I don't think there's many people that can stop me in the box and I feel like, when the ball and the delivery is right, I'm probably going to get first contact the majority of the time.

“So it was good to get the goal and I'm now looking to build on that.