Hello, it's a new deal I'm looking for, says Rangers midfielder Harry Forrester

It has been a relationship that has been mutually beneficial to both parties as they inch ever closer to a Championship title. This was evident on Saturday when Forrester opened the scoring to set Rangers on their way to a 4-3 victory over Queen of the South, delivering them three points that potentially brings title success just 90 minutes away.

In a topsy-turvy game, the former Watford and Aston Villa graduate was one of Mark Warburton’s most productive players as they were forced to hang on during a tense second half. Forrester appeared afterwards to speak to the press about his aspirations for the future, and naturally the topic of his impending contract expiration came up. The level-headed Englishman was coy enough to insist he is focused on securing that league win he and everyone connected with Rangers so craves, but he did not attempt to hide his desire to eventually get a new deal thrashed out.

“Of course (I’d be happy to speak to them about that),” said Forrester. “From day one, that’s been my aim. I won’t get too involved in that – I’ll let my representatives do that with the gaffer and the club and see if we can agree something.

“At the moment I’m just concentrating on playing as it’s been a long time since I played this number of games so I’m just enjoying it. I love playing at Ibrox. I’d love to stay here for next year. Like I say, it’s not up to me – we’ll sort it out and will go from there.”

Forrester is wise to focus on the here and now given the impending three games Rangers are rushing up to. First of all they have a trip to Kirkcaldy next weekend that if they defeat Raith Rovers and Hibernian fail to overcome St Mirren, will see Rangers clinch the title and automatic promotion to the Premiership. The following week brings Peterhead in the Petrofac Training Cup final, a trophy that has so far eluded the Ibrox club during their spell in the lower leagues, while the following week brings Old Firm rivals Celtic back into view in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.

If they are to come out on top in that game, they will certainly have to tighten up at the back from a shoddy showing at the weekend. Not only did did captain Lee Wallace give away a needless penalty, they also switched off in the second half twice to gift Queens two goals.

“We’ll iron it out,” insisted Forrester. “We’ve gone 4-1 up and were playing some good stuff. We can’t take out foot off the gas – we know that. I think that’s why when we got in there we were so disappointed.

“We can’t take anything away from the fact that it’s three points, we knew before the game that’s what we wanted and we’ve got that.

“We’ve scored four today but let in three and have the three points. We’re always hopeful that we’ll create lots of chances and we’ll put them away.

“I love playing here. You can see we are an attacking team which suits my style of play and that of a lot of other players.

“We attack as a team and defend as a team. Just because we let three goals in isn’t the defenders’ fault solely. We need to rectify that and we’ve talked about that. But we do attack and I enjoy that.”

For Queen of the South, Saturday probably represented the end of the road in their own ambitions to reach the Premiership. With defeat in Govan coupled with Raith Rovers winning in Greenock, it means James Fowler’s team are now 14 points behind the Fife club with 18 points left to play for. While not impossible, Mark Millar, who scored their dramatic third at the death, was left to try and pick out the positives from a result that leaves them cut adrift.

“We have goals in the team. It’s about nullifying the other team,” he said. “If we can do that then we are capable of winning games. It’s a bit task for us from now until the end of the season but we need to remain positive.”