Thelo Aasgaard has ‘no fear’ about table-topping Rangers succumbing to pressure
Thelo Aasgaard has “no fear” of Rangers succumbing to pressure after they moved top of the William Hill Premiership for the first time in more than two years with a 4-2 win over Dundee United on Saturday.
The Light Blues were 13 points behind Hearts when Danny Rohl took over as boss in October but they overtook the Jambos on goal difference at Ibrox and have six fixtures remaining.
The Norway midfielder knows the Gorgie side have the chance to go back to the top when they travel to Livingston on Sunday, with third-placed Celtic, five points behind Rangers, facing Dundee at Dens Park later the same day.
However, the 23-year-old is looking forward to the run-in with “excitement” as the title race hots up.
He said: “We’ve worked so hard to get here, so there’s no fear of losing it. It’s more the excitement of keeping it going.
“That’s the main thing, no one’s looking backwards now. It’s all forwards.
“We take every game as it comes. No game is bigger or smaller than the other.
“I think the manager emphasised it as well. These are cup finals, there’s no hiding it.
“So, we’re going 100 per cent. We’ve got to recover and go again.”
Aasgaard continued: “I think a big credit’s got to be with the manager.
“We’ve had some games where we’ve dropped points, but that’s when he’s got behind us the most.
“He knows we’ve got the quality, we know we’ve got the quality, so it’s about keeping it up.”
Aasgaard was involved in the first two goals, scored by striker Ryan Naderi and defender Dujon Sterling. After Amar Fatah pulled a goal back, he restored the Gers lead when he knocked in a cross from substitute Djeidi Gassama.
United substitute Zac Sapsford made it 3-2 with a well-worked goal before Light Blues replacement Bojan Miovski fired in from the edge of the box late in the game.
United’s hopes of a top-half spot are over but boss Jim Goodwin hopes Sapsford’s first goal since December, when he converted a pass from Luca Stephenson after good work from the excellent Fatah, will help the Australian striker in the final six games of the season.
He told DUTV: “I’m hoping that will give Zac a huge amount of confidence. I think when he first came into the club, everybody could see the qualities that he was going to bring.
“He hasn’t had much of a break from, prior to joining the club, coming out of the A League and I think that showed around about the Christmas period where he looked a little bit fatigued.
“So we’ve tried to protect him as much as we could over the last few weeks and tried to get a little bit more energy back into him. And hopefully that goal will give him a huge amount of confidence.”