Manager Mark Warburton has said Rangers owe the fans a performance and victory when we face St Mirren this weekend.
More than 4000 will be making the trip to St Mirren Stadium on Sunday lunchtime to see out the season in style as Championship title winners and Petrofac Training Cup holders before we head to the Scottish Cup final later in May.
Speaking to the Official Site in his pre game press conference, Warburton admitted that with recent league performances, the players owed the fans this weekend.
‘It`s important we get back on track as we have three sides of the ground on Sunday and the game is live on TV. We have that massive support which has been fantastic all season, so every time we pull the jersey on we have a responsibility. It`s important for us to train well, prepare well and then hopefully deliver a good performance.’
With it being three games without victory following the Celtic Scottish Cup win, Warburton said they would be looking at everything from him down to ensure we avoid slumps like this in the future.
‘We have to look at that – and it`s not just about the players. What mistakes have the staff made? It`s all about one group of staff and players together – we can`t take the plaudits and then blame the players after a couple of bad results. Did we get the loading right? Was the timetable right? Was the training intensity correct for the appropriate day? Obviously not as the results weren`t great, but we can also look and say in a 10 or 11 day period they won the League against Dumbarton, won the Petrofac in front of a packed Hampden and a week later delivered a tremendous performance against the number one team in the country. They have dealt with the pressure and expectation really well, won two trophies and got through to a Cup Final.’
Warburton went on to say it could be simple ‘human nature’ with the highs seeing everybody step off without realising it, but if that’s the case we need to find the signs so we notice it and handle it better in the future as well, as obviously he wants highs and more success.
‘Is it human nature? That`s understandable but not acceptable. We have to learn as a group of staff and players how we do better next time. You only learn from mistakes. We made them the other night and were sloppy in possession and didn`t penetrate. We have to talk about it as a group and if we don`t learn from the bad times then we have a problem. If you have to shout and scream very rarely then so be it. I would be more concerned by a lack of effort or application that I would be anything else.’
A big boost this weekend though will be the return of top scorer Martyn Waghorn with his ten week lay off with a knee injury.
‘We have missed Martyn in terms of him offering us something different. So he will be involved on Sunday and he is desperate to get back. He will have an hour or so on Sunday, use the friendly game and then be ready for the Cup Final.’
