JAMES TAVERNIER joked he finally had one up on Rangers legend John Greig after breaking his goal scoring record in the top flight at Ibrox.

The defender took his tally for the campaign to 16 strikes with two second half penalties in a deserved Premiership victory over Aberdeen.

Tavernier's previous best was 15 in the Championship winning campaign under Mark Warburton but he has now gone one better during an impressive season for the Light Blues.

He said: “In the Championship season I broke John Greig’s record and I gave him some stick. But he gave me some back saying it was only the Championship!

“I am happy to remind him I’ve broke it again. But he just told me he didn’t take penalties!

“I’m getting stick again! We always chat after games and he’s the first to congratulate me. I’m really happy and want to finish the season off strong.

“I saw in the programme how many goals I’ve scored against Aberdeen. I’m always trying to help the team, whether it’s assisting or getting on the scoresheet, and I’ve done it a few times against Aberdeen and was happy to do so again.

“I’ve taken a lot of penalties this season so I’m always cool and calm. I’m kind of over that pressure stage when I’m standing over the ball."

Victory over Aberdeen ensured Rangers will finish best of the rest behind champions elect Celtic for the first time since returning to the Premiership three years ago.

Their Old Firm rivals need just a point to secure an eighth successive top flight crown but Tavernier is only focusing on matters at Ibrox as Steven Gerrard's side look to finish the season strongly.

He said: “We just need to win games. The gaffer said it was all about three points and that’s our aim until the end of the season.

“We were aware of what could happen but we are Rangers and we need to win games. We knew we had to beat Aberdeen.

“We’d lost points against them this season and they’d knocked us out of the cups. We had to win in front of our fans.

“It puts us in a good position before Hibs. There’s been a few performances. We have only picked up three points against Hibs when we felt we should have had more. It’s the same against Aberdeen.

“We had to set that record straight but we know where we need to be to challenge next season.”