Aribo: Rangers Must Remain Calm To Beat Celtics To Scottish League Title

Joe Aribo admits Rangers need to become the sum of all parts if they’re to sustain a Premiership challenge.

The Nigerian international was handed his first taste of Tynecastle in a frustrating draw that saw the Light Blues blow a golden chance to pull clear of Celtic at the summit.

As Hearts set about making life difficult in Gorgie, the 23-year-old insists this share of the spoils came with a warning shot that titles are not just won by a mark of quality.

It’s more basic requirements such as character and having the stomach for a battle at difficult away grounds that make the difference over a campaign and Aribo reckons it’s also about confidence and calmness when the sparks start to fly.

“It’s 100mph and what you need is composure and someone to get the ball down and be confident,”he told reporters after the game.

“This result is definitely disappointing. We wanted to get the three points and unfortunately we weren’t able to do that. It was frustrating.”

Aribo also lamented a slow start and a failure to seize the initiative which proved costly while proving another footballing law that you can’t expect to just turn up and pocket three points.

He added: “We started slowly and then from there we were constantly chasing the game. It was hard for us.

“You could say it was down to mentality. As a team we just didn’t start quickly enough and we were playing catch-up.