Rangers star offers insight into Derek McInnes' Old Firm team talks as 'war cry' motivation pays dividends

Rangers captain Dan Neil compared manager Derek McInnes’ team talks to a ‘war cry’ after back-to-back victories over rivals Celtic.

The 24-year old was the hero of the hour on September 13 with his brace in the 3-0 Premier Sports Cup victory and once again impressed during the 1-0 league victory at Celtic Park at the weekend. Given the captain’s armband in the absence of injured striker Lawrence Shankland, the former Sunderland skipper is proving to be a vital player for the Light Blues despite a shaky start to his Rangers career.

It also hasn’t been plain sailing for the manager since he joined from Hearts in the summer - but the defeat in Europe to Jablonec now feels like many moons ago following consecutive Old Firm triumphs. McInnes’ ability to adapt tactically to nullify the opponents has been praised recently. Speaking to Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club, Neil also offered an insight into what his team talks are like before matches.

McInnes issued Parkhead ‘war cry’

Despite Rangers carrying all the momentum going into Sunday, the manager stressed the importance of the players staying grounded, given that they still trailed Celtic in the Premiership standings. As striker Ryan Naderi grabbed the only goal of the game, they now trail their rivals by two points going into the international break.

Neil said of McInnes: “He is brilliant at them (team talks). Every single one has been a real kind of war cry. It's been really, really good. But I think a lot of it was - forget last week, last week's done - It's a completely new game, completely new circumstances. Yeah, we got through the semi-final in the cup, which is brilliant. But if we lose this game, it's potentially eight points (behind). So this is probably just as important. So, it was basically ‘you were brilliant last week, but focus on the now, Focus on game by game’ - and we knew needed to come out of there with a result.”

Neil on Ibrox ‘togetherness’

In between the Derbies, a collection of Rangers players were pictured going out for a coffee in Glasgow’s West End. While to some this has no bearing on matters on the pitch, the cohesion between the squad has been prevalent in recent weeks. Neil reckons the squad is now beginning to gel at just the right time. He continued: “Yes and no, but I mean, we've got an unbelievable squad and we're starting to click.

“We're starting to find the way we want to play. We're finding a bit of an identity. So, yeah, obviously the games itself, there could be anything, Darby's are absolutely anything, form goes out the window. But I think everything's just kind of clicked in these last two games and there's been superb performance by everyone to a man. So, yeah, the squad's got undoubted quality in it. But I think what we've got in abundance is a real togetherness and a real willingness. We're all there for each other and would run through a brick wall for each other.”

(The Scottish Football Social Club is presented by BetSBK.com | 18+ | Gamble Responsibly)