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John Gilligan insists Rangers CAN catch Celtic and challenge for title THIS season

John Gilligan is confident Rangers can catch Celtic
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


John Gilligan insists Rangers CAN challenge Celtic for the title this season.

Gers are already five points behind the Hoops, and even Aberdeen at this early stage, with both those teams unbeaten in the league. Their dropped points came in an opening day draw with Hearts who have since been pointless, and a comfortable derby defeat to their Glasgow rivals.

Gilligan has recently come in as stand-in chairman after John Bennett stepped down for health reasons, and he insists he takes over the helm at a club in a strong and healthy position on and off the pitch. He said: "Well, where we are as a club is strong financially. We've got a strong manager, we've reinvested in younger players. The player trading model has been a disappointment.

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"But where we are in the league is five points behind, I believe, Celtic and Aberdeen. We're fighting hard to get back and we're in the semi-finals of the League Cup. We are where we are and we can only get better in the sense that if we keep playing like we are in the last few weeks, then we'll be fine."

Asked what would be considered short-term success, he insisted: "There is no such thing at Rangers as short-term success. You have to take one step at a time but ultimately we have got to win the league."

And asked if they can catch Celtic and Aberdeen, he added: "Yeah of course, definitely. Just the manager and the players that we've brought in and the fact we're a strong team. Week to week we're playing games that we can win and should win. Why not? You have to have that belief. If you start to doubt that and have that disbelief it starts to go through the whole place. We can't have that."