Danny Rohl's Rangers rule behind revival leaked as one thing boss won't allow revealed

Liam Kelly reckons the boss won't allow the team to take Annan lightly and take their "foot off the gas"

Liam Kelly certainly hasn’t forgotten the nightmare Rangers went through 12 months ago.

And the Light Blues back-up keeper hopes the rest of his squad remember the painful lesson of what can happen when standards slip at Ibrox. Rangers are resurgent now under Danny Rohl after a disastrous start to the campaign.

But only the Russell Martin’s record-equalling Brugge battering comes close to the humiliation heaped upon the club this time last year as Philippe Clement ’s side crashed out of Scottish Cup at the hands of Championship strugglers Queen’s Park.

That mortifying spectacle – a result that ranks alongside Berwick Rangers in the Ibrox haul of shame – began with Spiders sub Seb Drozd firing past Kelly and ended with keeper Calum Ferrie batting away James Tavernier’s stoppage-time penalty.

Twelve months on, memories of that bleak day still make Kelly wince. Which is why the 29-year-old is hellbent on making sure there is no repeat when League Two part-timers Annan Athletic visit for Govan for this term’s opening Cup clash.

Kelly – who will make just his second appearance of the season in the fourth-round clash – said: “It’s a game we’ll be taking absolutely 100 per cent serious. We know Annan are capable of having some good results. They’ve got some good players.

“They’ve just recalled Tommy Goss, one of their main strikers, who left them for East Fife at the start of the year.

“Obviously my wee brother Shay’s in League Two [with Dumbarton]. I watch a lot of Scottish football, I’m aware of the situation.

“Wullie Gibson’s the manager, who I’ve played against a number of times when I was on loan at other clubs. It’s a game that we’re taking absolutely serious. We’re desperate to win.

“Obviously we got the major shock and upset last year so we’ve got the biggest reminder possible that we can’t slip up.

“On that day everything that could have possibly went wrong did. It was awful. But in a way, it’s something to remind us that if we come off the boil then we’re going to get punished.

“Listen, looking at the way the manager’s been since he came in the door, I don’t think he’ll be allowing us to take our foot off the gas.

“It’s an opposition we’re treating in the exact same way that we treated Celtic.”

That huge upset didn’t spell the end of Clement but a defeat to St Mirren a fortnight later did.

But Kelly admits the vibe around the team then couldn’t be much starker to the feel-good factor currently buzzing round Rohl’s squad.

He said: “It was a sticky situation then. The team’s in a far different position now.

“You’re seeing a consistent style. We’re starting to look the same more each week. There’s not so many differences in the way we’re playing.

“So I think we’re in a far better way to go into this game than we were that time last year. Ultimately that result should never have happened. Hopefully, it’ll never happen again.

“But for it to never happen again we need to produce a good game on Friday night and that’s the plan.

“There’s probably a bit less to talk about the team now. Drama-free is probably the way to put it.

“The manager has come in and things have calmed down a lot. The way you see him is how we see him.

“He’s very calm. That’s why I said drama-free. Even, for example, half-time at Parkhead a couple of weeks ago, it seems a bit of a drama because Celtic were really on top of the game.

“But he was just like, ‘Calm down, we’re going to get into this shape.

“When the ball’s here, we’re going to move here…’

“Tactically, he’s sorted a lot of things out, which then helps him out because we’re winning games.

“When you’re winning games, it breeds confidence and people are able to play without any element of stress or worry. The boys have stepped up.”

Chief among those who have raised their levels is Ibrox No.1 Jack Butland.

The Englishman has shrugged off a calamitous campaign last year to establish himself as one of Scotland’s top shot-stoppers.

But Kelly reckons he’s played his own part in his glove rival’s return to form.

He said: “Jack’s been amazing for us this year. He’s been brilliant.

“He’s won us loads of points. It gives me a sense of comfort and a sense of satisfaction that he is playing that well. It justifies to me that I’m pushing him as best I possibly can that his performance levels are that strong.

“I think he has been really good. I’m his biggest supporter.”

But when it comes to fairytale comebacks, not even Butland comes to the Craig Gordon redemption story.

The 43-year-old Hearts legend could yet pen a final chapter that ends with a Premiership winners’ medal and starting slot at the World Cup.

His save at Dens Park last week wowed onlookers – but Kelly was in no way surprised by the veteran’s feats of heroism.

He said: “Maybe people will stop talking about his age now, honestly.

“If he was 24 and making that save, then you’d be like ‘amazing’. The fact he’s 43 and making that save, it doesn’t matter.

“Just judge him for the goalkeeping. He’s an amazing goalie.

“I’ve said before, he could play forever! He makes some unbelievable saves.

“Everyone is taking about that save as if it’s a reflection of everybody else who’s younger, because he’s still amazing at 43.

“It’s not our fault he’s still that good! Give us a break!”

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