BORNA BARISIC has called on Rangers to show their champions credentials as they prepare for their top of the table clash with Hibernian on Sunday.
Steven Gerrard's side return to Premiership action on the back of a disappointing defeat in Prague that has left them facing an uphill struggle in their bid to reach the Europa League knockout rounds.
The 1-0 loss to Sparta was the fifth reverse of the season for Rangers and another upset on Sunday would see them lose top spot in the league as Jack Ross bids for a famous Ibrox win.
The champions have failed to hit the heights of last term as they attempt to defend the title that they won in such emphatic fashion by going through the Premiership campaign unbeaten.
And Barisic knows there would be no better time to raise their levels as Rangers attempt to consolidate their pole position in the title race.
Barisic said: “Yes of course [we are looking forward to it]. Top-of-the-table clash. I think it will be a very good game.
“Hibs have shown this season that they are a very good team.
“I think that they have showed, even in previous seasons, that they play good football.
“But this season they have been a little bit even better so it will be a very interesting game.
“You know, when we became champion last time it’s not easy to stay there.
“They say it’s easier to climb a mountain than to stay there. But that’s what makes you a champion, right?
“When you put the standard so high like we did last season in every aspect of our football game then of course expectations are very big.
“But that’s what makes you a champion and is the difference between someone who can do that for one season or someone who can do it a few seasons in a row, someone who has consistency.
“That’s the thing we’re trying to find and what we want to achieve this year."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here