NICO RASKIN has shared his pride at pulling on the armband and captaining Rangers to an Old Firm derby victory this afternoon.
In the absence of both captain James Tavernier and vice-captain Jack Butland, the midfielder put on an impressive showing leading out the team as the Gers ran out dominant 3-0 winners at Ibrox to start the new year on a high.
Speaking to RangersTV after the victory, he commented: “I was really proud, I was just enjoying the game so much to be fair.
“It was a great afternoon for me and my family, it was maybe one of the first times my father came in the stand today, so I was really proud of the win, of the team and how we played.
“The fans reception? They love me and I do love them so much, it is just amazing to play here, we just need to continue.”
The Belgian has highlighted the start his side made to the match with his assist setting up Ianis Hagi’s early opener after seven minutes, praising the support the team received throughout.
He continued: “How are we feeling after that? Great, after the last two games that were a bit difficult it is just amazing to win like this.
“To start the new year with a good vibe, but at the end of the day it is only three points, we just now need to recover and think about Hibs coming up.
“I think we were really aggressive in the duals; we won a lot of balls in the middle and everywhere on the park to be fair.
“Every 50-50 was for us and that just set the tone for the game.
“Starting a game like this with the fans behind us, they were very loud.
“I don't think there is going to be many teams that come here if we are strong and our fans are loud like that, that can just cope with that.
“It is something that we need to really work on and get this for every single game we play at home.”
The 23-year-old has encouraged the Light Blues to now kick on from the display with further matches in a busy run of games to come, as they head to Easter Road on Sunday before heading to Dundee in a week’s time.
He added: “Hibs coming up and then Dundee, so we just focus on the next game, because it is every time we need three points and we are not where we want to be.
“We know where we need to go and it is just trying to repeat those kind of performances.
“This needs to be every game because if you do this only in a big game it is not going to get you anywhere.
“It was a great afternoon but is now only focus on Hibs, we need to go and get the points.”