Malik Tillman on earning his own Rangers fans' song and finding the missing part of his game

Malik Tillman would likely not have been on the pitch to score Rangers' opener in the 2-1 win over Ross County on Saturday were it not for an early injury to John Lundstram.

Seranaded onto the park by the home crowd following the enforced change after just 11 minutes, the on-loan Bayern Munich youngster picked up where he left off at Tynecastle in midweek. Having netted in the 3-0 win over Hearts, Tillman made it two goals in two games, and eight for the season overall, showing his prowess in the air to get on the end of a Todd Cantwell cross to open the scoring on the stroke of half-time.

Jordan White equalised for County before Borna Barisic’s deflected free-kick avoided a shock result at Ibrox as Tillman, not surprisingly, backed his manager’s decision to introduce him early in the match. “It was really unlucky [John] got injured,” he said. “I think the game needed a bit of more attacking football because we wanted to win, so the manager made the right choice."

'Oh, oh, oh it's Malik – give him the ball and he'll score' is the song Rangers fans have adopted for the USA international, sang to the tune of Magic by 70s band Pilot, and the 20-year-old is duly delivering. "It’s amazing to always have these fans at your back. I appreciate it and I love it," he said. "I came here to help the team score goals and assist goals. That’s what I can do, that’s what I like to do. It’s just the way I play. I do want to score so it suits the way I want to play and the coach wants the team to play. But the most important thing is the team’s success. I’m glad that I was able to help and that we got three points in both of the games."

Rangers midfielder Malik Tillman celebrates with Todd Cantwell after scoring for the second match running in the 2-1 win over Ross County at Ibrox. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Michael Beale has made no secret of his desire to activate the option-to-buy clause in the midfielder's contract that will allow the Ibrox side to retain Tillman on a permanent basis for a fee in the region of £5million. That would seem a deal worth taking for a player who has adapted well to the Scottish game.

"I came here with just couple of games of professional football before. I had to get used to it as well," he said. "I can still improve a lot. I have improved but, as I said, there is still a lot to come, I think.

"I would say [the biggest thing I've learned] is about the mentality and physicality of Scottish football. You do have these demands at Bayern. They told me already it was something I was kind of still missing and it’s one point I can still improve on. I think it’s a reason why I came here as well, so I can learn from Scottish football and maybe come back and do it better.

"It’s from the way we play, or the way the Scottish league plays. The team helps me a lot. Also, the teams we play against, most of them try to make life difficult for us and be as physical as they can to defend their goal and not let us score. That’s one big point I had to get used to at the beginning."