The Rangers factor that could give them edge over Celtic and Hearts as key player suffers 'shaky' start

Emmanuel Fernandez believes European disappointment could benefit Rangers in their quest for domestic success.

The Light Blues were bounced out of the Europa League and Conference League qualifiers early in the season as new boss Derek McInnes tried to recruit and gel together a new squad.

Rangers have turned form around since then and seven wins in a row have left them in second place behind William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic, and in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals where they will play Aberdeen at Barclays Hampden.

Emmanuel Fernandez, left, has been very impressed by fellow Rangers centre-half Olwethu Makhanya. | SNS Group

While Celtic play Benfica in the Europa League in Lisbon and Hearts host Nordsjaelland in the Conference League on Thursday night, the Govan side have had a free week to prepare for the trip to Dundee on Saturday night, where they can return to the top of the table with a win, albeit the Hoops can reclaim that spot for a second successive week on Sunday when Hearts visit Parkhead.

Asked in a Sky Sports interview if the lack of European football might help domestically, centre-back Fernandez said: “One hundred per cent. Less games, ultimately, means less injuries and more time to be ready for the weekend, I guess.

“I feel like, as a group, we can probably get closer together, understand each other more.

“As we know, there was a lot of new signings throughout the window, and obviously we’re past that now, and I feel like there’s more connection that can be built for our training together and playing together so, obviously, it could be a benefit for us.

“But I still think we need to go into games with the same focus, knowing that we have a week off, and some people might have a few days, but we still need to be at it and ready to go.”

Fernandez: ‘I had shaky start to season’

Fernandez, who joined Rangers from Peterborough in July 2025, admits he had a “shaky” start to the season. However, the Nigeria international is enjoying a return to form, helped by the growing relationship with Olwethu Makhanya, the 22-year-old South Africa centre-back who signed from MLS side Philadelphia Union in the summer.

Fernandez said: “Obviously, a bit shaky at the beginning but I feel like I’m getting back into my groove. I still think there’s more to come, similar performances towards last season, but they’ll all come in due time.

“I think he (Makhanya) is amazing. I know how hard it was to settle when I came in and played last season. I feel like that’s why having certain team-mates around you can help you settle quicker and help you get into games easier, and help you just perform the way you want to perform and not think about the noise.

“At the beginning of the season, we didn’t start off at our best, but I feel like we’ve got into our groove a bit and getting the results that we need. But I still think the team knows we can still give more.

“There’s games where we know we can still score more goals and limit the amount of (opposition) chances.

“Obviously, we’ve just come back from the international break. We’ve got five games before the next one and we’ve got performances to put in.”