James Penrice believes Rangers' downbeat reaction to their 3-1 win over Kilmarnock shows how far the team has come, despite a second-half display that he admitted was not good enough.
The Light Blues took a three-goal lead into the break, but a slack second-half performance allowed Neil McCann's side back into the game, with Nicky Clescenco scoring a late consolation goal. The slumped shoulders and bowed heads at full-time told a different story from the team that had marched back to the dressing room at half-time.
Penrice admits standards have risen
Penrice, who missed out on a Scotland call-up despite impressive form at left-back, was left to train with a skeleton squad during the international break. With most of the club's 13 international players not returning to Auchenhowie until 24 hours before the match, there was little time to get levels back up.
"Yeah, I think if you took a walk through the changing room after that game, you'd have thought we'd been beaten," admitted Penrice. "I think that says a lot about how far we've come. As players we're not happy with how the second half was."
"I think we gave up too many chances. We looked slack, myself included. I think we came down a couple of levels. After half-time, I thought we could have went up a couple of levels even after the first half when we scored three. I thought we could have pushed on and gone and got more."
International break disruption
Manager Derek McInnes has made clear his dislike of the extended three-week Nations League window, and Penrice noted the challenges of such a long break.
"It's been such a long break. The boys have been everywhere, across the other sides of the world," said Penrice. "We as players, we knew that that's what would happen and it was about trying to limit that. In the first half, I thought we were good. We still could have gone up a few levels more. But in the second half, I don't know if that's a result of all the travelling, but it wasn't good enough and I think we know that in there."
McInnes will give the players an extra day off on Monday, but has vowed to push them hard as they build up to Saturday's match against Dundee, where he expects the fighting spirit that saw them beat Celtic twice last month.
Partnership with Gassama
Penrice also spoke about his partnership with winger Djeidi Gassama, which combined for Ryan Naderi's early opener. The pair have developed a strong understanding, though Penrice joked about the challenges of playing alongside the talented winger.
"Yeah, I love playing with Gass. I think you can see he's a player with so much talent," he grinned. "He's frustrating at times, especially when you're running 40 yards to go round him and he doesn't pass you the ball! But if he cuts in and puts one in the top corner, I'm not complaining. But when he doesn't, I'm going to be on his back."
"At the same time, I'm there to help him. I'm there to get round and cause the defenders problems, give them a decision to make. Gass is a player that can go right to the top and I love playing with him. But aye, he's just Gass being Gass!"
