James Tavernier proved that he’s far from ready to ride into the Ibrox sunset in Rangers’ win over Hearts on Sunday.

The 34-year-old right-back may not be getting any younger, but he certainly doesn’t appear to be getting any closer to hanging up his boots either.

Tavernier first signed for Rangers in the summer of 2015 from Wigan Athletic for a measly fee of £200,000, and all he’s done since is establish himself as one of Gers’ all-time great bargains, and players.

An evergreen defender who simply refuses to let his growing years impact his quality and performance levels, he’s already fired in 12 goals and six assists in all competitions this season.

But, the all-time scoring defender in British professional football history is, as things stand, heading towards becoming a free agent this summer.

James Tavernier was still everywhere for Rangers vs Hearts

At his age, many Rangers fans would forgive Tavernier for not being able to cover as much ground and impact games the way he’s always done for them.

But, if he was going to do just that against Hearts on Sunday, he would have to do it from the bench, as Danny Rohl favoured Dujon Sterling at right-back instead.

However, with the game having just gone 3-2 thanks to Youssef Chermiti’s second of his eventual hat-trick, Tavernier was called upon to replace Sterling for the final half an hour or so.

But Tavernier wasn’t just content to play a defensive role to try and help his team see the game out, in fact, that’s never been his game, as he excels in offering his quality in the attack.

The veteran full-back was up and down the right flank non-stop for the duration of his cameo, putting in the kind of trademark tireless performance in royal blue that’s seen him forever earn a place in the hearts of the Ibrox faithful.

As per Sofascore, Tavernier completed 100 per cent of his passes accurately inside his own half, wasn’t dribbled past once and made three defensive contributions.

Surely then, he’s shown enough from that cameo, and from this season as a whole so far, that the engine warning light is some way from appearing yet.

Rangers don’t have Tavernier’s successor in place yet

As aforementioned, it was Sterling who Rohl decided to start against Hearts, but the 26-year-old didn’t put in a totally convincing performance.

Indeed, it was Tavernier who put in the stronger showing despite being on the field for half the amount of time Sterling was.

On top of that, Rangers don’t appear to have Tavernier’s long-term replacement in place just yet, with Sterling continuing to be inconsistent, and Max Aarons will return to Bournemouth in the summer.

Therefore, not only has Tavernier shown he’s still more than capable of starring for Rangers, letting him walk away on a free with no obvious successor for him to pass the baton too would be a very risky move.

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