Miovski’s two goals gunned down Kilmarnock and it came after a revealing conversation with his manager
Danny Rohl congratulates Bojan Miovski(Image: SNS Group)
Danny Rohl hailed two-goal Bojan Miovski for shooting down Kilmarnock – and revealed a heart-to-heart with the striker helped get him firing again.
Miovski produced two clinical finishes either side of the break to edge Rangers ahead of battling Killie and put the foundation on a win that moves them level third with Motherwell.
It doubled the North Macedonian hitman’s Gers tally from his first 19 games in light blue and ended a two-month wait to hit the net for the striker who was coming in for increasing criticism from punters.
To round off a good evening’s work for Rangers, Mikey Moore marked his return from injury by climbing off the bench to net a classy third. But it was the return to form of Miovski that did the damage for Gers.
And Rohl hopes it can kick start a scoring streak for the summer signing. He said: “For me, it’s a little bit of a result from the last seven days.
“We had a conversation with each other and then he made step-by-step huge step forwards against Dundee United.
“He had some good chances. He’s more adaptable at the moment, not just staying on the last line, it helps in building up as well. Yeah, I’m happy when a striker scores two goals, it’s fantastic.
“In general, we spoke about what I demand from him. He told me also what he is thinking at the moment. And then I think, especially after the Falkirk game, we spoke about spaces, what I want to see from the centre-forward and big spaces.
“He has to come and you feel he has a little bit more freedom now and that helps us a lot. In the end, if you work hard then you can also score and you deserved to score.
“Then Mikey comes on, you see the quality in those 20 minutes. But all in all, a good team performance, great direction, put effort in and if you bring everything then you can win games in this league.
“We had less chances today but we were clinical. A clean sheet is always helpful. I think it’s also important how we defend at the moment, the set-play, much, much better.”
Nedim Bajrami limped off after just 20 minutes with a hamstring issue. But Rohl hopes the Albania international’s issue isn’t serious.
Findlay Curtis replaced the winger before Moore then came on for the closing stages as a sign of Gers options off the bench strengthening ahead of Thursday’s trip to face Ferencvaros in the Europa League. And Rohl said: “Yeah, a strong bench. I think the first thing was today to start with three midfielders.
“To have three strong midfielders for the second ball, they can cover a lot because for me it was clear at the beginning of the game you have to suffer, especially with this long ball, second ball, and they did well, the three guys. And then it was good to have different options on the bench.
“Yeah, Nedim told me then very early in the game that he has problems. I gave Finlay the opportunity to get some minutes. In the end it was tactical because we changed to a back three. Because I saw a lot of channel balls then it was important to have a plus one in the last line. And we have to use the bench, I said that many times, impact players, they have to be ready if I ask them.
Bojan Miovski
“And if you can bring them really, impact players on the bench, then you can bring the game home or you decide the game.”
Miovski, meanwhile, insists he never forgot how to score goals during his barren run.
He “said: It feels good. I work really hard, as a player I know you need to have consistency. I’ve played three games in a row, I feel better and better in every game. Hopefully, I will continue this way.
“As a football player sometimes you don’t score but you need to keep working hard. I did that, I didn’t forget how to score goals and I know that will come.”
Fellow scorer Mikey Moore was equally pleased with his contribution after climbing off the bench on 76 minutes. The Spurs loanee said: “I was buzzing to be back. As soon as I came on the pitch I wanted to make an impact. I didn’t expect to come on and score two but another one chalked off, it is what it is.
“I’ve adapted, I’m kind of finding my feet now and I’m just happy to be playing at this football club.”