“The sky is the limit for this team,” says Rangers captain James Tavernier as he tosses down the Celtic title gauntlet.

James Tavernier, Captain Fantastic, won’t dispute with Rangers supporters who have the courage to dream. Instead, in the quest for an incredible clean sweep both domestically and internationally, the Light Blues’ Hampden hero maintains that it is his team’s responsibility to turn imagination become reality.

With new manager Philippe Clement still undefeated, the season that was on the verge of turning into a nightmare as things fell apart under Michael Beale suddenly feels completely different for the Ibrox crowd. The first award of the season was won by Tavernier’s incredible winner yesterday, but the captain knows that the gamblers will now be expecting more.

Expectation levels will be soaring with Celtic apparently on the slide towards civil war and a title race that looked dead and buried only eight weeks ago is all of a sudden too close to call. There’s the Scottish Cup to come too and with Rangers also looking forward to Europa League last 16 action in the new year, there are bold notions floating around that this might be the year Gers can go for all four. It might be fanciful at this stage, but as far as Tavernier is concerned, let them dream.

“Us as a team? We have got to put ourselves in a good position to manage to do that. We have done that today with the first trophy so we have got to continue to build on this.

“The sky is the limit with the team. You talk about the league. There are plenty of games to be played and the final decision will be made in May.

“We’re in great stead now. We’ve got our hands on a trophy, we’ve topped the group in Europe, it’s been a huge week. We’ve got to really enjoy it but build on it and not forget what’s in front of us. We’ve got to really push ourselves, perform even better and get what we want.

“Look at what the situation was eight or nine weeks ago. Football can move very quickly. We’ve just got to perform well on Wednesday against St Johnstone. There is momentum there and we have to keep on winning.”

Tavernier has at last ticked off his to-do list of Scottish honours. He was the man who led Rangers to their first league crown in a decade in 2021, who lifted a first Scottish Cup since 2009 the season before last and who has now ended a 12-year wait for League Cup glory.

There are plenty who insist he’ll need a lot more to truly deserve the place in the Ibrox hall of fame he was awarded last summer. But the Englishman can rightly argue his small collection of medals carry their own special significance.

He said: “It’s obviously a proud moment for myself and my family, but it’s down to the team. I thought everyone really played well. We could have played better, but everyone really stood up to the task in hand and we saw it over the line.

“Rangers gave me the platform from day one nine years ago. They gave me the opportunity to play the game I love and I’ll always repay them, no matter what.

“I go out week in, week out to do my best. It’s really enjoyable now to see the team galvanised. That’s what the manager is bringing to the table, pushing each other on. It’s set out for something really special for us.

“This result was long overdue. But it was all about the team today. We probably made it a bit closer than we expected, but we knew that if they had chances we would create our own.”

Tavernier pounced 14 minutes from time to clinch victory as he lashed past Kelle Roos from a Borna Barisic cross. But he revealed that team-mate John Souttar deserves some of the credit for the goal.

He said: “I spoke to Soutts at half-time having noticed that Ross McCausland had got in at the back post a couple of times. I thought I could look to maybe get in there myself.

“With Dujon (Sterling) having such a good game, I could see more as the second half went on for him to give me a little bit of cover.

“I saw Borna get to the byeline and I thought I would get myself into the box. When it went up in the air, I just thought ‘get it on target’. The joy of scoring is obviously unbelievable and we managed to see it out.”

The captain paid tribute to the impact of Clement, who bagged his first trophy after just 14 games. Tav continued: “He’s come in and raised the bar, raised the standard.

“He’s given us a lot of clarity as a team about what he wants us to do, and everyone has really got on board with it. He says it’s not just about the team that’s starting, it’s about the 22 or 24 all really pushing themselves on the training field.

“That’s really positive to see behind closed doors, that we’re all really pushing each other to get the success for us all to enjoy. There are a lot of quality players out injured, but I really believe in this squad and the talent we have in the team.

“Since taking on that midfield role, Dujon has been nothing short of extraordinary. He was brought in and given a task, and he earned the title of man of the match in the end.

While many players performed admirably, Dujon stood out. Cyriel Dessers is really starting to show his strengths; on Thursday night, he helped us win the match.

Every day, we all push each other harder and demand more and more from one another. The future holds nothing but improvement for us.