James Penrice believes Rangers' new-found dressing room unity was on full display during the flashpoint with Celtic winger Haissem Hassan in Sunday's 3-0 Premier Sports Cup semi-final win. The left-back insists Derek McInnes' side can take the fight to Celtic again in this weekend's Premiership rematch, even without the backing of a full Ibrox crowd.
The incident occurred when Penrice slammed the ball off Hassan's chin while the Celtic attacker was grounded, sparking a 20-man melee as every Rangers player rushed to back up their team-mate. Hassan reacted angrily to the challenge, and both players were shown yellow cards.
Team spirit on show
For Penrice, the reaction to the flashpoint was proof of the collective spirit now running through the Ibrox dressing room. "Yeah, I've been buzzing," said the 27-year-old, reflecting on his first Old Firm experience. "It was a real good team performance. Although there's still a lot of work to be done, it's a good step forward for us."
"The experience probably surpassed my expectations. It was the noise just when we were running in from the warm-up was wild. But you've got to perform and it makes it all the better that we managed to walk away with a win. So it was a very memorable Sunday."
"You've seen certain incidents, certain times in the game where we came together, and you see it after the match, the boys are buzzing. Obviously [incidents like the one with Hassan] are something that happens in football but I think you've seen just from the performance on Sunday that it was a real team performance."
Confidence for the rematch
Penrice is confident Rangers can repeat their cup triumph in Sunday's Premiership clash at Celtic Park, despite the absence of their home support. "Can we now go do that again, even without the fans being there on Sunday? Definitely," he said. "I think the boys know that everyone will be sitting in their house watching. But at the same time, we go on the pitch and we've got a job to do, and that's what happens when you play with Rangers."
The left-back was given a special mission by McInnes, tasked with man-marking Parkhead playmaker Benjamin Nygren in the centre of midfield. It was a gruelling shift, but he didn't let the Dane move an inch without following his every step - and still had the energy to deliver two of the crosses that led to goals for Kevin Kelsy and Dan Neil.
"The gaffer and I spoke at length about the decision to go inside and play a different role, and I think it worked," Penrice explained. "As soon as the game kicks off, you can see me take off for the middle. But you don't need to convince me to play anywhere. I'll play absolutely anywhere."
A long road to Ibrox
Penrice admits his route to Rangers has been scenic, from Partick Thistle's academy to East Fife and Livingston, then Hearts and AEK Athens, where he won a Greek title last year. "Scenic is the word I would use to sum up my route to Rangers," he grinned. "If you'd have told me at maybe 21, 22-years-old that I'd get to play in an Old Firm match, I'd have laughed at you."
He added: "Look, obviously us as players know that it's not been pretty at times this season. But you've got a certain standard here that fans are used to of dominating, and I think on Sunday you saw that. But now you need to park Sunday and focus on the league. This win needs to be followed up this Sunday."
James Penrice was speaking at the launch of the Rangers Charity Foundation's partnership with Down's Syndrome Scotland.
