JAMES Tavernier, the Rangers captain, will tell his players to stay off social media and focus on the job in hand ahead of the biggest season of their lives as they attempt to stop Celtic winning nine league titles in a row.

The message to the entire dressing is going to be to stay faithful to the old cliché of footballers doing their talking on the park because otherwise they would be inviting more pressure on them, which is the last thing the Ibrox club needs.

Tavernier himself has been caught out himself by things he said on social media and just the other day, new signing Sheyi Ojo caused a stir by claiming Rangers were a better team than Celtic.

The skipper, and most likely Steven Gerrard, do not welcome such comments because it risks hurting a squad which, in the minds of their supporters, have no choice but to win the Premiership this season.

Asked what he would say to any player about what is about to him then, Tavernier said: “It can vary. You can tell them to stay off social media. A lot of things can be said on there and you don’t want to put your head in a different place.

“You want to stay focused on the job in hand. It will be a team effort. We want to achieve the same things and we can’t get caught up in anything else. During the 90 minutes fans might want us to attack all the time, which we like to do, but sometimes we need to shut up shop and keep possession.

“That’s where talking to the lads and keeping to the system will come in handy. You try and stay out of the limelight as much as you can.”

A challenge for every Rangers player this season will be to handle the pressure, outward and inward, as they attempt to stop Celtic equalling the record held by both clubs.

Tavernier admitted that he had seen certain players not being able to handle such pressure and his hope is that Gerrard has put together a squad which mentally will be able to cope with what lies ahead.

The Rangers captain said: “You need to see who can cope and who can’t. You just need to put yourself in the best position mentally for the team. There are a lot of boys from last season who are capable of it and the new boys have shown great signs so far.

“It’s going to be a huge season, definitely. The gaffer has already highlighted it to all the boys how big a season it is. It’s my duty now, along with the other experienced boys, to let the new boys know what it is all about because they will soon know once the season starts.

“Once the new campaign unfolds, they will see how chaotic it can get. But we have a good group of boys and we will let them know that.”