Danny Rohl reiterates Rangers title-chasing mantra after Motherwell inflict body blow to silverware hopes
Rangers title hopes were dented after Motherwell’s Emmanuel Longelo scored a stoppage time winner to edge a five-goal thriller at Ibrox
Danny Rohl has refused to concede Rangers title dream is over as he issued a reminder to rivals Hearts and Celtic that they are still in the fight for silverware after a damaging home defeat to fourth-placed Motherwell.
The Ibrox side were dealt a hammer blow in their first post-split fixture after Emmanuel Longelo’s deflected winner in stoppage time handed the Steelmen a 3-2 victory and three precious points in their quest to secure European football next season.
Youssef Chermiti and Nico Raskin cancelled out first-half goals from Lukas Fadinger and Longelo in a pulsating contest, but Longelo would have the last laugh as the fired home in the 91st minutes to ensure the Light Blues slip to third in the table with only four games remaining.
“I’m disappointed, there’s no question over that,” Rohl said. “Let’s talk about the second 45 minutes where we had a lot of opportunities to turn it again. We could have won this game 4-2 or 5-2 even if the first half wasn’t what we wanted.
“We changed something and it had a great impact. Look, this is football - that’s why sometimes we love the sport and sometimes we hate it. But the most important thing is that it’s not over. It’s really not over.
“I saw the picture from our fans at Falkirk, the flag saying ‘Keep Believing’. This is the right time to lift this slogan with emotion. Really, we will keep believing. Otherwise, it’s difficult. We have four more finals, four games to go and it’s our job.
“Next week, we have a final-final (against Hearts) - there’s no question. But even after that game, we’ll have three more to go. When the final whistle (for the season) is over, we’ll know where we are.
“Today feels like a big blow and I’ll take it. But my responsibility is now to lift and to lead - not just my group and my staff but also us as a club.”
Asked what makes him believe Rangers can still win the title, Rohl responded: “That I saw players with courage, mentality, intensity and quality. All this is what we need in a title race, to come back against this side.
“We can score a lot of goals, and these are things that you need in a title race. My group never give up, since I'm here. We’ve had some small setbacks, and we come again with a reaction. This is my experience with this group, and we will do this next week again.”
Rohl: ‘Rangers need more clean sheets’
While Rangers have had no issues finding the back of the net in recent weeks, Rohl has acknowledged the need to tighten up defensively and start keeping clean sheets after shipping nine goals in their last four games.
“I think I said this many times, we need more clean sheets, because it makes our job really hard to come back,” he commented. “We need a lot of energy to come back. I see different kinds of goals, it's not always the same goals, which kind we conceded.
“I'm disappointed with the first and the third goals conceded today, both similar with the transition moments. This is difficult, of course, at 3-2. We gambled in this moment, we tried to make the 3-2, and then they made a quick attack, and finally there was a deflection. I don’t look for excuses, but over the full 90 or 100 minutes, in some moments you felt the 50-50 situation. That's a little bit on the Motherwell’s side, and this is also football.”