TAV AT THE DOUBLE TO END GERS SLIDE

...now Murty tells his Gers to play same every week

GRAEME MURTY reckons Rangers have set a new benchmark performance for the remainder of the campaign after beating Aberdeen 3-0 at Ibrox.

A double from James Tavernier either side of a Carlos Pena strike clinched all three points for the Light Blues against Derek McInnes’s side.

It was a hugely significant win for interim boss Murty following the successive Premiership defeats to Hamilton and Dundee.

Murty said: “I see these fellas train every day and I see the level they get to.

“They’ve just upped it tonight and shown the level they need to be at for the rest of the season. I asked for a performance and they gave me a really good one.

“I’m not bothered about anyone’s reputation.

“They have to take care of that through their own performances.

“In the big games you are looking for the big

characters and I didn’t think anyone stood up any bigger than a young lad called Ross McCrorie.

“For a man of his tender years to put in that kind of performance in a position he’s not too familiar with was exceptional.

“I thought he was outstanding.

“Let me enjoy it rather than talk about frustrations.

“They are more frustrated than me because they are the guys who train everyday.

“The confidence flowed through the team once they got the goals.

“They took on some good tactical information and it was nearly the complete performance but there are still areas where we can improve.

“It has to be the benchmark. That level of insensity, that grit, that fight and that level of quality.

“You saw all those aspects from the team.

“It’s a helluva standard to live up to but if you want to play in this team that’s the level you need to get to.

angers had won just two of their seven league matches on home soil prior to the visit of the Dons and were written off in many quarters ahead of the back-to-back clashes against their rivals for second spot this term. But the Light Blues produced their best performance of the campaign to move within three points of Aberdeen ahead of their trip to Pittodrie on Sunday. Murty (inset) said: “I’ll always be confident in the players. It’s down to them to perform. We’ve set our benchmark down but it means nothing if you don’t back it up.

“It’s a different game on Sunday and we have to make sure we wrap them up in cotton wool and get them ready to play at a good standard again. It will be a tough, tough game. I don’t imagine for a moment Aberdeen will take that result lying down.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That’s just one good game. This club has been built on decades of good games.”