IT would have been entirely understandable if Wes Foderingham had been tempted to seriously consider one of the offers he received from down south during the summer due to his painful experiences in the five Old Firm games he was personally involved in last season.
Foderingham let in no fewer than 15 goals in those Glasgow derby matches and was involved in both of the 5-1 defeats, at Parkhead in September and Ibrox in April, which his side was on the receiving end of.
Yet, the Englishman, who this week signed a one-year contract extension which ties him to Rangers until 2019, was undeterred by the losses and remains determined for both his side and himself personally to do better in them.
He is well aware that Andy Goram, one of his illustrious predecessors, is still revered by supporters for the saves which he pulled off in the meetings with Celtic over the years, and emulating him in future is an ambition.
“I had a very brief conversation with Andy on Twitter when I first joined,” he said. “He welcomed me to the club and wished me all the best. He had some nice words to say.
“He has also had some nice words to say about me this season in the programme which was good to hear from a Rangers legend. The fans here love him. There is no doubt he was a fantastic player for the football club.
“It was nice to hear good words from him. I am aware that he always did well in the Old Firm games. I have seen some of the saves on YouTube and fans have made me aware of the performances he has put in against Celtic.
“If I can do half as well as him in these games I will be doing alright.
“Having said that, you need to be consistent across the board. There is no point playing well in these games if you are going to play poorly in other games. I try and focus on being the best goalkeeper I can be throughout the whole season.”
It will be interesting seeing how Pedro Caixinha’s new signings, Daniel Candeias, Graham Dorrans, Eduardo Herrera, Ryan Jack, Alfredo Morelos and Carlos Pena, fare in this outing.
Will the latest batch perform any better than those from last term? Foderingham is confident Rangers are better placed to challenge both for silverware and for bragging rights in the Old Firm game.
“Listen, they’re a top team,” he said. “They’ve been unbeaten for a while now and you can’t do that if you’re a bad side. But we strengthened during the summer and we’re better placed now to challenge than we did last year and that’s what we’ll be looking to do.”
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