James Tavernier: Rangers captain will 'never shut door' on new deal as he eyes Scottish Premiership title glory
Rangers are one point behind Hearts in the Scottish Premiership title race with five games remaining; James Tavernier is out of contract at Ibrox at the end of the season; he joined the club in 2015, winning three major trophies
Monday 20 April 2026 16:56, UK
James Tavernier has told Sky Sports News he will "never shut the door " on a new deal at Rangers.
The Ibrox captain is out of contract at the end of the season, insisting he is focused on trying to clinch his second Premiership title since joining the club in 2015.
Rangers are one point behind leaders Hearts, and Celtic are a further two back with five games left to play.
- Celtic to host Hearts on final day as post-split fixtures revealed
- Scottish Premiership games coming up live on Sky Sports
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"I'm taking it day by day. My wife was asking me about the holiday, and I said that's too far ahead for me to think about," the 34-year-old said when asked about his future.
"I'm not a person who really thinks two weeks ahead, down the line. I'm really just trying to focus on just this week, my training, and obviously my kids' schedules.
"It's a hectic life I live, so that's something that will be communicated probably further down the line.
"It's obviously something that I've been here for a long time, and it's something that I'll never shut the door on. But I've obviously got to wait and see what happens."
The defender has only started 23 of Rangers' 33 league games this season as head coach Danny Röhl looks to other players to help clinch the league trophy.
"It's obviously frustrating, because I want to start every single game, and my body's not slowing up one bit," he added.
"But if I'm asked to be on the sidelines, I'm going to support the boys no matter what, and put my input in the team, and just be myself.
"All I can do is, when given the moment, or when I start, is give it my absolute best for the team."
Rangers made a frustrating start to the season, winning just once in the league before Russell Martin was sacked in October.
Röhl took charge when the team was sixth in the Premiership, 13 points behind leaders Hearts. Now, Opta's super-computer has them as favourites to win the title.
"It's in our hands, and we only can constrain ourselves and our aim is obviously to win every single game until now to the end of the season," Tavernier said.
"We always say every game is a cup final from the start of the season, which it is, but these games are the exact same.
"We've got to approach it the exact same manner as we have been doing towards the end part of the season and getting the wins no matter what.
"The belief is in the squad. I think you've seen it over the past couple of months, the results that we've put in, the performances that we've been putting in, and obviously we've been giving the gaffer a big headache on team selection, so we're in a great place.
"We've obviously got to stay humble and be really driven, which I know we are, but we've just got to keep on pushing each other and applying ourselves to the maximum from training and in games."
Initial post-split games to be shown live on Sky Sports
- April 25: Celtic vs Falkirk, 5.30pm
- April 26: Hibernian vs Hearts, 4.30pm
- May 3: Hibernian vs Celtic, 12pm
- May 4: Hearts vs Rangers, 5.30pm
- May 9: Motherwell vs Hearts, 8pm
- May 10: Celtic vs Rangers, 12pm
