Ianis Hagi has challenged his Rangers team mates to prove that Thursday’s Old Firm win is not just a flash in the pan.
The Romanian got the ball rolling on his side’s stunning 3-0 win on derby day by firing a quick fire opener just six minutes into the first half. And Hagi went on from there to turn in a stand out performance as Philippe Clement tasted victory over his city rivals for the first time at his seventh attempt. But the victory still leaves Rangers trailing the champions by a whopping 11 points at the top of the table after a catalogue of ropey displays since the start of the campaign.
And Hagi insists the top priority for the Ibrox men going into the New Year is to prove they can hit the same heights on a game by game basis – starting on Sunday against Hibs at Easter Road. He said: “Yeah, I think the perfect word for us right now is consistency and I think no one can deny that. We didn’t really have that throughout the season up until now.
“We’re a team, obviously, that can hit these types of heights and we need to do that consistently. Everybody knows that – everybody – the staff, players. So we’re working on that.
“Teams like Rangers, you don’t really have time, you have to kick on really quickly. We have a game in three days and that’s the right opportunity to go again and show that we can hit these heights every few days.”
Hagi believes Thursday’s thumping of Celtic has helped get a psychological monkey off Rangers’ backs after going so long without a meaningful derby win. But he is adamant that the win must be seen as a springboard fro the remainder of the campaign.
He went on: “Every win helps you psychologically. Obviously winning an Old Firm game is totally different. But as I said, I think consistency for us is the main thing so we’re trying to do that and that’s the focus right now.
“I know it’s really important to win Old Firm games but at this moment it’s already in the past. “We have a game in three days and I think everybody knows that we have to be consistent and do that, as I said, every three days.”
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