'Electric' Rangers performance gives Cantwell hope for run in

Todd Cantwell described Rangers’ first half performance against Kilmarnock as “electric” and insists it can give their supporters hope for the rest of the season.

Michael Beale’s side blew the Premiership strugglers away in a rampant first half performance that saw them go into the break with a 3-0 lead.

Levels dropped slightly in the second-half and Kilmarnock got a goal but never looked like threatening the result at it ended 3-1.

The win means they cut the gap at the top of the Premiership to nine-points with leaders Celtic playing at St Mirren on Sunday.

Cantwell returned to the starting line-up after being on the bench for most of the League Cup final defeat to Celtic last week and was one of the star performers on the day.

The 25-year-old is now already looking forward to the next test and says he is loving his time at Ibrox so far as he hailed the “incredible” support.

They travel to Edinburgh for a game against Hibs on Wednesday and the former Norwich star knows they will be well backed at Easter Road.

After the game he told Rangers TV: “It has been brilliant, and it goes without saying, the away support is incredible.

“I am just looking forward to every game at the moment, playing football again and having a smile on my face is exactly what I came here for.

“It had been a long while where I hadn’t had a consistent run of games, but I am starting to feel match-fit again, which is really good.

“I am starting to feel I have a better understanding with the players which is something that is only going to get better and, personally, I feel like I am moving in the right direction.”

Cantwell believes Rangers’ first-half performance against Derek McInnes’ side, who are second-bottom of the table, can bolster belief for the run-in.

He said: “I thought we were electric at the start – really positive with our play, our possession and it was really nice to be a part of the intensity off the ball.

“I felt like we made it really horrible for them in the first half, and all in all, it was a very good performance.

“We have got to build a baseline for our intensity off the ball, our class on the ball and I think the first half was a great reflection of that.”

McInnes told Kilmarnock’s YouTube channel: ” We were poor first half and lost the first goal after six minutes. You want to be hard to beat and frustrate the crowd.

“To get any sort of result at Ibrox, you need a 90-plus minutes performance and it was 45 minutes – and 45 minutes wasn’t enough.”