KEEP IT CLEAN

Tavernier out to give Butland a quiet afternoon after defensive stat 'blew his mind

- BY ANDY NEWPORT

RANGERS have been clobbered over the head so many times this season it's little wonder Ibrox senses have been scrambled.

Be it the Champions League leathering in Brugge or the repeated domestic jabs that threaten to relegate Gers to the status of Premiership also-rans, the Light Blues have at times been left lurching about like a punch-drunk fighter.

But of all the shocks suffered, it was the fact that Wednesday's clean sheet at Hibs was the club's first shutout on the road for almost a year that blew James Tavernier's mind.

That's 11 months and 24 games between a 3-0 win at Ross County last December and the narrow victory in Leith, thanks to Danilo's lethal strike. The stoic display at Easter Road was another small step forward for a team that have a lot of catching up to do if it's to challenge for silverware.