James Tavernier demands that Rangers play Kilmarnock “the way the manager wants” following the Old Firm derby defeat at the hands of Celtic.

James Tavernier knows Rangers have to bounce back quickly from Old Firm frustration when they host Kilmarnock on Tuesday night.

Even though the Light Blues still have two games remaining, they now trail the unassailable Premiership leaders by eight points following their 2-1 loss to Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday. This was manager Philippe Clement’s first loss in 17 games since replacing Michael Beale in October.

The Scottish champions, who had been leading thanks to goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi, had a nervous finish thanks to the Gers captain’s fantastic free-kick in the 88th minute. Rangers defender Leon Balogun was sent off at 2-0 for denying Celtic striker Daizen Maeda a clear chance to score.

Tavernier is eager to make amends with Killie in the last game before the Christmas break at Ibrox.

“It is a big game and obviously we have to play really good football because Kilmarnock are in form,” he said on RangersTV.

“We must play to the best of our abilities, as directed by the management.

“There are plenty of games after the break, so it’s important to finish with the three points.”

“They were more clinical than us,” Tavernier said, reflecting on their devastating loss to their Old Firm rivals that dashed their ambitions of winning the championship. Yes, we did produce a few really nice opportunities, but we were unable to locate the back of the net.

It could have been a different score, but it wasn’t meant to be. We simply need to be a little more clinical in our pursuit of that objective.

“There are, of course, advantages to be had, and as I mentioned a few weeks ago, there are lots of games to play. And we’ll keep up our arduous effort.

“We’re going to make sure we put three points on the board in our crucial game on Tuesday before the break.”