Ben Davies offers Rangers support to Michael Beale as fans told 'there’s a long way to go' with pressure mounting

Ben Davies believes beleaguered Rangers boss Michael Beale is still the man to deliver success to Ibrox this season.

The Gers gaffer picked up a much-needed win at St Johnstone on Saturday as he staved off the threat of the sack. But Beale is going to have to keep that run going if he’s to win over his doubters amongst the Ibrox support. He faces another major test of his leadership on Saturday as the Light Blues open their Europa League campaign at home to La Liga outfit Real Betis. But Davies is certain Beale can inspire his side to an upturn.

He said: “I back the manager. I’ve got 100 percent faith in him that we can have a good season this year. There’s a long way to go and I think he just needs people like me and others to put in strong performances for him. Hopefully we can do that going forward. I speak for myself. I was fully focused on getting a win for him on Saturday.

“Do I sense a chance to change the mood between now and the next international break? Yeah and it started on Saturday. Hopefully it will continue and that’s what we’re focused on.

“As I say, the manager has shown a lot of faith in me. I’ve got a good relationship with him so I want to work for him.”

There was a blow for the boss as frontman Danilo suffered a painful fracture to his cheekbone that is likely to keep the new £6million striker out for several weeks. But Beale was keen to take positives from Saturday’s 2-0 victory as he looks to rebuild his team’s shattered confidence.

He said: “Nico Raskin and John Lundstram did well in front of the defence and Ben Davies had a particularly good game, the first of the season. Ridvan Yilmaz grew into it.

“The story of Saturday is Tom Lawrence's first start in over a year, to play 90 minutes is a