Rangers captain James Tavernier insists there is no lack of hunger among his team-mates.
Gers defender Connor Goldson revealed after Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final defeat by Hibernian that he felt like the team had “lost a bit of hunger” and were not working as hard after becoming champions.
The team responded by reaching the Europa League knockout stage with a 2-0 win over Sparta Prague on Thursday in new manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s first match in charge.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s cinch Premiership encounter at Livingston, Tavernier said: “The boys are always hungry. They are at Rangers for a reason. They are at Rangers to be winning trophies, to be winning games every single week.
“When the boss came, I knew before his arrival the boys were really looking forward to working with him and you saw how much of that came out in the game on Thursday night.
“We carried out the game plan as best we could in the short amount of time we had, but I think it’s only going to get better the time we work together.
“The hunger, it’s one of those where the frustrations can kick in. It’s still very raw after a game.
“But the hunger is always there from the boys. That should never be in doubt.
“We are always looking to improve ourselves and Thursday night was a great example of coming off a difficult weekend to really bounce back with a strong result.”
Van Bronckhorst earlier added Dave Vos to his coaching staff as assistant manager. The team also includes former Bayern Munich striker Roy Makaay.
Vos has been working as Ajax Under-18s head coach while also doing work with the Dutch football association.
The manager said: “I spoke with Dave a couple of times this year in looking for a potential new assistant of mine. I heard really good things about him in the youth set-up of Ajax and also the royal association (KNVB).
“I wanted to talk to him and see how he thinks about football, how he develops his players
“He is a very young coach, very talented. I saw in him as a good assistant for me because I think he will help me develop the squad and the players individually.”
