Thelo Aasgaard made a positive start to his quest to be "the man" for Rangers this season after earning Derek McInnes a point in his first game as manager.
The Norway international produced a brilliant piece of skill and finish to level in a 1-1 draw against Dundee United at Tannadice in their William Hill Premiership opener.
Aasgaard had forced an excellent stop from United goalkeeper Jack Walton moments before his 56th-minute strike into the top corner.
The 24-year-old scored eight goals in his debut season with Rangers but he only started around half of the club's games and aims to make a bigger impact this season.
The former Wigan and Luton player, who scored against France in his sole World Cup appearance, said: "I was just trying to take that quality from the six weeks out in America.
"I trained with some really good players day in, day out and that raises your standards, so I've tried to bring that in in pre-season and I felt like I've done that.
"I want to take some responsibility this year to be the man.
"Obviously I was happy with a lot of moments last year. I had some really good periods, but a few too many periods where I was out of the team and not having the impact on the pitch that I wanted."
The Liverpool-born midfielder cut short his summer holiday after Norway's elimination to ensure he had the chance to impress McInnes up close.
"Just to prove a point that I should be in the team, and you should trust me to come in and make a difference," he said.
"Last season was a lot of ups and downs, and I'm just trying to find that consistency.
"If it's not a goal or assist, then it's a really strong performance, so I'm obviously happy to score. I'm just trying to show the manager that I should be in and around the team.
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"Playing amongst the best players in the world with Norway, and feeling really confident, feeling good in training, obviously a good performance in the World Cup as well, did wonders for my confidence, so I tried to bring that into Rangers.
"The manager's been great ever since I've come in. I've had that full belief straight from when I've walked in. He wants me to play with freedom and take that responsibility on my shoulders, which is great."
Aasgaard's contribution was one of the high points for Rangers, who looked rusty in the first half and failed to build on Aasgaard's equaliser, surviving a late scare when Jesse Randall missed a great chance for United.
"It's great to score, but it's not the same when you can't celebrate in front of the fans," he said. "It's a bit bittersweet.
"It was frustrating. It's too many [four] years now that we haven't won that first game, but I think there were some positives.
"We obviously showed some character to get back, but we should have more than enough quality to go and win the game, so disappointed in the end."
