Why McInnes chose Shankland as Rangers skipper

Head coach Derek McInnes insists Lawrence Shankland understands the expectations of Rangers after being named captain. The 30-year-old striker succeeds departed right-back James Tavernier, who McInnes felt was treated "unfairly" during parts of his captaincy. With that in mind, McInnes has urged the entire Rangers team to "share the load" of responsibility. While the Ibrox boss admits he looked throughout the squad, he struggled to see past his former Hearts captain. "I really wanted to look throughout and see how everybody was but the advantage Lawrence had is that I've got evidence of how well he runs a dressing room from Hearts," McInnes said. "There was a lot to consider but I think a lot of things went in his favour. He's got the experience. We're still quite a young dressing room, he knows the club, he's not long in but he knows the club in terms of being a Glasgow boy, supported the club, he knows what's expected of him and me and the team. "Obviously I've got a strong relationship with him which helps with these things. "I felt Lawrence took a lot on his shoulders at Hearts when things weren't going too well. This time last year he was the existing captain and I saw no reason to change it. "I do feel the role now has changed, I think we need as many captains underneath him as well, someone to help share the burden. "I saw it a lot with James Tavernier in the past where he'd get rolled out after every sore defeat and I always thought it was a bit unfair. "We have to share that load and responsibility. Leaning on a lot of his team-mates, key players within that, but ideally you want everybody to deal with the responsibility."