MURTY TO GERS: FORGET HOLD-UP
Murts tells squad to forget hold-up after Dees defeat
GRAEME MURTY insists his Rangers players have to put the managerial uncertainty at Ibrox to one side after they suffered another shock Premiership defeat against Dundee.
The Light Blues followed up their embarrassing loss to Hamilton with a 2-1 reverse at Dens Park as they missed the chance to move up to second in the standings.
Interim boss Murty took charge for a fourth successive match and is set to be in the dugout against Aberdeen as the Gers board continue their search for Pedro Caixinha’s successor.
Murty said: “You have to ask the players that [if they are affected by the
uncertainty]. They are the ones that walk out onto the pitch. As far as I am concerned, I am just going to do the job I have been given.
“I just said to the players there that this is Rangers Football Club and we need to be winning these games.
“No disrespect to our opponents, but if we are serious about getting back to the top of Scottish football we need to be winning these games.
“We have had more than enough in both games to win them but we haven’t executed to a high enough standard, and I include myself.
“We need to be better than we are doing currently. That is not good enough, that is not what we want to be, not where we want to be. We need to get better.
“They look like a group that need to lift the fans that turn up at Ibrox on Wednesday for a massive game against Aberdeen.
“They need to be ready to put on a show, put on a performance. That is their challenge now.
“They can’t control anything outwith the group. They need to make sure when Wednesday comes they go and execute better than we did today.”
After starting his second stint in charge with wins over Hearts and Partick Thistle, Murty has now overseen two hugely damaging defeats for Rangers as crucial Premiership points have been shipped.
Josh Windass cancelled out O’Hara’s first of the night but Neil McCann’s side clinched all three points late on as the 21-year-old netted his second.
Rangers now head into a crucial double-header with Aberdeen and Murty has called on his players to rise to the challenge at Ibrox.
He said: “To play for Rangers Football Club, you need to be able to motivate yourself, be intrinsically motivated to go and meet the expectations of the football club, regardless of who is in charge.
“I would offer up that challenge to anyone that comes into the club: manager, player, member of staff. We need to be at the very top of our game if we want to progress.”