Max Aarons hopes his stoppage-time winner at Livingston signals the beginning of his Rangers redemption arc following his Champions League woe in Belgium last month.
The on-loan Bournemouth full-back was widely pilloried after being sent off early on for a last-man foul, leaving his team-mates in the lurch as they crashed to a 6-0 defeat and 9-1 aggregate loss against Club Brugge in the play-off round.
Aarons paid the price for a red card described by former Rangers favourite Ally McCoist as “absolute car-crash material” by not featuring in any of the Light Blues’ next four matches.
Following a soul-searching month on the sidelines, however, the 25-year-old returned to the fray as a 73rdminute substitute away to Livi on Sunday and secured Gers’ first league win of the season with a close-range finish in the fourth minute of stoppage-time.
“No one was more disappointed than myself with that,” Aarons said of his chastening night in the Jan Breydel Stadium. “I’ve never been sent off in my career.
“A moment like that, a lapse in concentration, was extremely disappointing for me, especially in a crucial game like that.
“It was always going to be a difficult game for the team, let alone with 10 men, so I knew I wanted to make up for that as quickly as possible and the first chance since that game, on the pitch, was Sunday, so hopefully in a small way I’ve done that.”
Even aside from his costly red card, Aarons – like most of his team-mates – has endured a torrid start to his Gers career, with the players and manager Russell Martin coming under heavy fire from their supporters after winning just five of their 15 matches in all competitions.
The former Norwich player admitted had never experienced the level of intense scrutiny that he had encountered at Ibrox.
“No, it’s different,” he said. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I think it’s just something that in your first few games you really realise and then it’s about overcoming that and showing that character to deal with that.
“I also think it’s a privilege to have that support, coming here to an away stadium and having three stands, it felt like a home game. And then it’s on us to reward them with a good performance, but most importantly a win.
“The more we can do that now, hopefully those wins are going to really push us forward and build a stronger relationship now with the group, the fans, everyone.”
Aarons was optimistic that the dramatic nature of their 2-1 win at Livingston could be a catalyst for an upturn in form.
“It was massive,” he said. “We know being this far into the season now and it being our first win is not good enough for this club, we know that.
“But, moments like that, they build character and they build a trust within the team that we can get through the difficult spells. Every game isn’t going to be an easy coast, we have to dig in on moments like that.
“Like I said from the start here, the aim is to be at the top part of the table and that’s what we’ve got to do.”
