GEORGE Edmundson has claimed Rangers' gutsy fightback and dramatic late win over Hibernian at Ibrox on Wednesday night proves they can cope with the pressure of a neck-and-neck title race and avoid any more slip-ups during the run-in.
Steven Gerrard’s side, who have fallen seven points behind Celtic in the Ladbrokes Premiership after losing to Hearts away and being held to a draw by Aberdeen at home in the past fortnight, went 1-0 down to Jack Ross’s side in the first-half.
And they were, despite Edmundson levelling with his first goal since moving in Scotland in the summer just before half-time, in serious danger of dropping another two points entering the closing stages of the game.
But Ianis Hagi, the Romanian playmaker who joined Rangers on loan from Genk until the end of the season last week, netted a stunning strike with six minutes of regulation time remaining to secure a vital victory.
Edmundson believes the hard-fought triumph showed the mental strength that Gerrard’s men possess and is confident they will be able to build on the result in the coming weeks.
"I wouldn't say we were feeling the pressure, but I think we have shown that we can thrive under the pressure and stand up and be counted," he said.
"To win like that will boost us. We were 1-0 down so to come back and win the way we did shows we can turn things around. We can't afford to draw or lose another game.
"The first-half performance wasn't too bad, but in the second-half we went up a gear and performed like we normally do. Everybody knows we've probably been off it the last couple of weeks, but I think that second-half performance shows we're back to our best.”
Edmundson was impressed with match winner Hagi, who was making his first start as a Rangers player, and reckons the son of football great Gheorghe will be able to provide the spark in the final third that manager Gerrard feels has been lacking from his side’s play this year.
"Ianis looks very good,” he said. “He played well and got the Man of the Match award. I am excited to see more of him. It was a great finish. I was saying: 'Take a touch!' But what a goal!”
Edmundson was preferred to Nikola Katic, who struggled in the 0-0 draw against Aberdeen at Ibrox on Saturday, at centre half and justified his selection ahead of the Croatian with an assured personal performance.
The 22-year-old, a close season acquisition from Oldham Athletic, has struggled to get regular game time ahead of Connor Goldson, Filip Helander and Katic, but he is hoping he can now enjoy a run of first team matches.
"This is the way the gaffer kind of wanted to plan it,” he said. “I wasn't going to come into the team straight away. It's a massive club and I need to get to grips with it and how things work.
"But it's been good and I have learned a lot. Do I feel ready to play consistently? That's a tough question. It's only one game and I have done alright. You can't think: 'Oh yeah, I'm a starter now'.
"I just need to keep improving and hope I get selected in the next game. As a player you want to be involved in every game. But we just move on to Saturday and Hamilton now.”
Edmundson certainly enjoyed opening his account for Rangers after a free-kick from returning captain and right back James Tavernier into the Hibs penalty box.
"It felt good to get a start and top it off with a goal and a win was even better,” he said. "The gaffer is big on set-pieces and Thomas Culshaw (first team coach) normally takes us to try and work on a few special things. One of them came off against Hibs.
"It was good when my goal went in. I'd given a free-kick away for Hibs' goal so I felt like I had to redeem myself - which I did. Hopefully I can get selected for the next games, so we'll prepare for that and see what happens.”
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