Lee Wallace: Rangers will redouble their efforts for Premiership challenge...

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... after clinching Championship crown.

 

THE finishing line is in sight, but the starting gun will sound as soon as Rangers have burst through the tape. The medals will hang around their necks, but thoughts will quickly turn to the next, and a bigger, prize.

 

For Lee Wallace, the moment has been four years in the making. Through the highs and lows, across the country and up the leagues, he has guided Rangers every step of the way on The Journey.

 

Within weeks, he seems certain to get his hands on the silverware that has long been coveted at Ibrox.

 

The Championship trophy is far from the most illustrious memento that will have ever resided in the famous room at the top of the Marble Staircase, but it will be one of the most significant Rangers have collected. And it will be Wallace who will lift it.

 

The Light Blues captain marked his 200th appearance for the club with the fourth and final goal in the Scottish Cup victory over Dundee on Saturday as he fittingly marked his milestone and capped off another impressive performance for Mark Warburton’s side.

 

It is the visit of Morton on Friday night that is now top of Wallace’s thoughts as the Gers look to take another step towards the Championship title and inch ever closer to their Premiership return.

 

It is seemingly a matter of when, not if, Rangers’ promotion will be confirmed. There will be no rest until it is won, and none after the celebrations have come to an end.

 

“I would be over the moon and everyone that knows me will know how I will feel when that moment comes,” Wallace said.

 

“It is the icing on the cake in terms of getting ourselves back to where we belong.

 

“It has been a really enjoyable process, there has been ups and downs, there is no denying that, but the club is recovering and we will get back to where we should be playing our football.

 

“I have said it for the last few years that we need to get back to where we belong and where we should be playing football. We are not too far away from being able to complete that.

 

“The most important thing is that when that is done, it is about unleashing a whole new set of targets for the following year and going harder.

 

“We will set new goals and aspirations. For the last four years, the main aim has been getting the club back to the Premiership.

 

“Now, once we get there and get over the line, it is about having a new set of goals and targets for the top flight.”

 

The climb back through the divisions has taken longer than expected for Rangers but the wait could prove worth it in the end as they look to take significant strides forward in the coming months.

 

Progress has been made on and off the park under the guidance of the new Ibrox board and boss Warburton, and fans are now looking forward to a brighter future after years of turmoil.

 

The chance to lift the silverware aloft is one that Wallace will savour when it comes but the left-back knows there is still plenty of work to be done before the champagne can be sprayed.

 

He said: “It has been a turbulent period and there has been a lot going on outwith the club and obviously higher than the football department.

 

“This year there has been a platform for it just to be football and just be back pages rather than front pages. It is an easier working environment and the manager and Davie Weir have come in and been first class.

 

“It starts with them and the style that they have brought to the football club. We have taken to it and there has been a lot of hard work put in.

 

“But there is a lot of hard work still to come. We are in a good place and we are really happy.

 

“The work doesn’t stop here and there is still a long way to go. We set ourselves high standards.

 

“We have nine games in the Championship to go and we are not too far away.

 

“We are going to keep working hard, looking to dominate games and imposing our style, doing what we do best, and we will take it from there.”

 

Rangers have shown their title mettle in recent weeks as they have put together an impressive run of form to pull clear at the top of the table.

 

Now they have plenty to look forward to in the final two months of the campaign as they bid for what would be a remarkable and unexpected Treble.

 

Warburton’s side are five league wins away from the top flight and just 90 minutes stand between them and the Petrofac Training Cup.

 

With the Scottish Cup clash against Celtic looming on the horizon already, there is plenty to play for and plenty to get excited about for the Light Blues.

 

Wallace said: “We are aware of all these moments that are ahead of us and we have got the Hampden games to look forward to in quick succession.

 

“We know that they are in the distance but we can only affect what we do day to day. That has always been the way the manager works, it is day to day and game to game.

 

“That certainly won’t change and that is how we will work until we get ourselves over the line and hopefully until we get ourselves some silverware this season.”

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/14327283.Lee_Wallace__Rangers_will_redouble_their_efforts_for_Premiership_challenge_after_clinching_Championship_crown/