The Light Blues full back sits down with Record Sport in an exclusive interview at the club’s Auchenhowie training centre

It's the word that still sends a shiver down the spine of most Rangers fans when it comes to their title credentials.

Mentality.

Whenever they don’t win a game, like on Saturday night in Dundee, it gets a mention. Whenever they capitulate in a Premiership run-in, like last term under Danny Rohl, it rears its head. And until current gaffer, Derek McInnes, puts silverware in the Ibrox trophy room - it will continue to be brought up again and again.

The personnel in the Rangers dressing-room might have changed. But the doubts remain the same. Do they have the mental fortitude and steely resilience to get over the line and become champions?

As a Rangers fan, James Penrice is fed up hearing it. Now as a player, he has to try and play his part in ramming it back down their critics’ throats. It won’t be easy, of course.

McInnes’ men saw off Celtic twice in a week recently - but their Old Firm rivals are still four points clear at the top of the league. And when it comes to winning domestic honours, mentality isn’t a problem for the Parkhead side. Even as a new player at Rangers, Penrice accepts the question - and the challenge of putting it right.

In an exclusive interview with Record Sport at the club’s Auchenhowie training centre, the 27-year-old said: “Ultimately, we’ll never know (if we have the mentality to win a title) until we go and do it. But we’re littered with talent. The talent in here is ridiculous. In every position, we have players who can go and make a Rangers jersey their own.

“And that’s what you need to drive standards. But at the same time, we need to go and win difficult games. We need to prove to the doubters, the journalists, people on TV, that we can rock up at certain places and put big performances in. That’s when you really get the credit in the bank.

“That’s when people will say, they’re a really good team and the mentality is there to go and win. I think you saw that against the likes of Falkirk and Aberdeen earlier this season. They were hard places to go. But with mentality, there’s always a switch.

"Ultimately, it has to come from leaders on the park like myself, Ivor Pandur, boys who have been here for years like Nico Raskin, or Dan Neil - who has played at such a high level. In every game, the message has to be, we’re not going to get beat today - we’re going to pick up another three points.”

McInnes is trying to foster a new-found spirit at Rangers. After a 15-year period which has largely been bereft of trophies, fundamental, cultural changes had to be made at Ibrox. Having a manager who was used to winning at the club as a player will surely help. But Penrice insists the players he’s assembled have no excuse NOT to succeed. A good sign was when McInnes offered several of his squad a day off last week but almost all of them refused to take it.

Penrice said: “I don’t like a day off. Honestly, ask anyone, I’d rather be in here than sitting in the house. Everything that comes with this (playing for Rangers) - the boys, the facilities - you can’t not become a better player. We’ve got such a young squad. For me to be the oldest player in the team against Celtic was mental - and I only look 18!

“Seriously, these boys have everything here to make themselves better. It’s up to us, the older ones, to push them and say - this might not be your final destination but you can have a really good crack at it at Rangers. The club has put everything in front of them. It’s top in every department. You shouldn’t want to go home when you play for Rangers

“At a club like this, you should want to be here until 4 or 5 o’clock every day. Even outside, a lot has been made of our coffee club. But that should be normal. Wanting to spend time with each other will ultimately help you get results on the park."

That came to fruition for Rangers in both wins over Celtic last month. In a 3-0 Premier Sports Cup triumph at Ibrox then a 1-0 league victory at Parkhead - Penrice was terrific in a hybrid role flitting between defence and midfield.

But for the boyhood supporter, just taking part in an Old Firm derby was a dream come true. There was no issue with Rangers’ mentality for those seven days. Penrice now wants them to show the same grit and determination in EVERY game.

He said: “The Old Firm games were unbelievable. Just having that nervousness and anxiety going into games that I’ve watched for the last 20 years of my life. I was thinking I’d never get the chance to play in one. When I was texting my best friend on the morning of the first one, he was saying: ‘Isn’t it nuts that you’re playing in an Old Firm today’?

"It was even more mental that I was playing in central midfield! But it’s such a massive game, worldwide. Even people I know in Athens were messaging me, they were watching on TV. It’s a huge game so to be involved in two wins was incredible. I was on Cloud 9.

“After the first one, I was trying not to celebrate too much because I knew we had to go to Parkhead and there was a gap in the league. Our resilience and mentality was brilliant there. We were arguably even better there than in the Ibrox game. But these games take care of themselves. You’re always going to be up for them.

“It’s the other ones where you need to show your mentality. Where you act like you ARE playing against them. That’s what has to click. And when it does, we’ll be rolling.”