Katic insists all is not lost for Ibrox men

NIKOLA KATIC hopes enduring gale-force conditions to claim victory against Livingston can put the wind back in the sails of a Rangers title challenge. The Croatian centre-back insists no one in the Ibrox dressing room is giving up hope despite sitting ten points behind Celtic with a game in hand. Last week’s collapse against Kilmarnock meant Steven Gerrard’s men had dropped eight points from their first six Premiership matches of 2020. But Katic feels there is still time to claw back ground in their 12 remaining league fixtures. ‘It’s important we responded with a win,’ he said. ‘Hopefully, this is the start of some good form and we have to try to win every game because nothing is done. ‘There are a lot of games until the end of the season, so we have to believe. We have to face Celtic twice and this team will not give up. We will give everything until the last game and try to close the gap. ‘We showed in the first part of the year we can play good football and be relentless and score a lot of goals. That was the real Rangers, although just now we haven’t been playing like the fans and club deserve. We will work hard every day and get back to the place we have to be.’ Rangers have failed to hit top form since the winter break. Katic was at a loss to explain why, but feels the angst from the stands may be a contributory factor. ‘It’s just happened,’ he said. ‘We lost to Killie and Hearts but, with our quality and the players we have, then we should be winning those games. ‘People talk too much about Dubai. We worked so hard there. ‘Maybe people are not mentally in the right place, because it is difficult. Even today, when we face a team in a low block, it is difficult to score in these conditions.’ Asked to expand on his comment about mentality, Katic replied: ‘I mean as a team. It is frustrating and the 50,000 people who come here don’t deserve the performances we have put in over the past few weeks. ‘Sometimes it is difficult because you don’t want to hear people shouting at you from the stand. We want people behind us. But we understand them, because we know what we have to do — and what results this club and these fans deserve.’ Gerrard criticised his players after the Kilmarnock loss — and Katic has no issue with those words. ‘We all saw that the second half against Killie wasn’t good,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t a real Rangers performance. The goals we conceded were like a joke. ‘We have spoken about that with the manager as well. For the second one, I have to win the header and Connor (Goldson) has to cover me better.’ Kilmarnock captain Gary Dicker accused Rangers players of not shaking hands after the defeat but Katic pointed to a challenge from home substitute Connor Johnson. ‘I was disappointed but he (Dicker) has to look at a tackle from his team-mate on me in the last ten seconds,’ added Katic. ‘He will see everything.’