Rangers manager Graeme Murty hopes to bounce back from Celtic defeat and admits disappointment was hard to take

After the hype, the low. Rangers’ home defeat in last weekend’s Old Firm derby ensured that Graeme Murty would embark on a rigorous bout of soul-searching – the invariable lot of the beaten manager in this fixture.

“I watched the game back three or four times and in the 10 minutes up until they scored their third goal they got out of their half once,” Murty said. “Alfredo Morelos has a one v one with the keeper and we’re dictating the tempo and, but for some defending that wasn’t our finest moment, we’re in control of the game.

“I have looked back on the changes that we made and I think that, as well as the players getting better, I will get better because that is the first time I have been in the situation where we have gone into a game and people have expected us to beat Celtic.

“Because we are at 2-2 and they are down to 10 men people are expecting us to win. I have never been in that situation either.

“Because of the expectation, because of the fact they’d got a goal to go 3-2 up, we tried to do things all at once rather than continuing to do the things that got us success, but I have had numerous chats with different people, talking about the many positives from the game.

“We can’t afford to get weighed down in the negatives because they can drag you too far. We have to make sure we understand the lessons from it and improve individually but also collectively and deal with whatever situations are thrown up."

Had Sunday’s outcome been reversed, Rangers would have been playing Kilmarnock at home on Saturday in hope of drawing level on points with Celtic ahead of the champions’ visit to Motherwell on Sunday. Instead, the imposition of sober reality means that, even should Rangers prevail against the Ayrshire side, Celtic are closing in on a seventh successive Scottish title with a comfort margin that will include two games in hand before kick-off at Fir Park.

The late miss by Alfredo Morelos in front of the gaping Celtic goal instantly became part of Old Firm folklore and left the Colombian striker looking crushed. “He was very down, he was very low, as you would expect,” Murty said.

“He is another one who actually has to put it behind him and learn from it. My feeling is that we will be a better team for the experience. Walking off the football pitch with that level of performance, having to perform in a pressure environment will help them.

“It is a disappointment, a hard one to take, but the next time we are in a situation like that we will be a better team, I have no doubt.”

Kilmarnock, too, experienced dismay in midweek, losing their William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final replay at home to Aberdeen in a penalty decided after a 1-1 draw. Like Murty, however, Steve Clarke, chose to emphasise the progress his players have made after a poor start to the season.

“When I signed my contract to come here in October the team were 12th, Clarke said. “We're now fifth. We've come a long way in a short space of time but we don't get carried away because we've actually achieved nothing.

“If we could secure a top-six place I think it would be a great achievement from the players.”

Kilmarnock last achieved a top six finish in 2011 and are currently fifth, four points ahead of Hearts, having played one game fewer than the Tynecastle side. Killie’s momentum has been fuelled by a prolific season for their veteran striker, Kris Boyd, who is the division’s leading scorer with 14 goals.

Morelos is on 13 and his Rangers team-mate, Josh Windass – Scottish Premiership player of the month for February – has 12 to his credit. Windass revealed that he is engaged in a personal contest with Boyd and also with Morelos.

“I was doing a programme with Boydie a few weeks ago. We were having a bit of banter about the top goalscorer award and I think the three of us are competing for that,” Windass said. “He’s flying, absolutely flying. I check their results every week and see that he’s scored and I’m raging.

“Alfredo doesn’t speak that much English but I’m sure he doesn’t like it too much when I score and go ahead of him. He’s a competitive striker and it’s the same with me. We’re all trying to do our best to succeed for Rangers.”

Windass, it is fair to say, has yet to win over some amongst the Rangers support, despite scoring the opener against Celtic. He was pilloried for gesturing for his critics to be quiet after he netted against Partick Thistle last month.

“The fans were on our backs a little bit because we were having a bit of a nightmare,” he said. “I scored and thought, ‘Why not?’

“I do loads of daft stuff. Would I do it again? I don’t know. I’ll let you know next time.”