GRAEME Murty last night vowed to improve Rangers’ dire home record after they lost their seventh league game at Ibrox in the same season for the first time in 103 years.
A 55th minute Kris Boyd goal – the striker’s 20th of the 2017/18 campaign – secured a richly deserved 1-0 triumph for Kilmarnock in a Ladbrokes Premiership game in Govan yesterday afternoon.
The Glasgow club have now lost at home to Hibs twice, Celtic twice, Hamilton, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock in the league this term. That is something Rangers have not done since way back in the 1914/15 season.
Murty only succeeded Pedro Caixinha back in October and has not been responsible for all of those losses, but he admitted his team must do better at their own stadium.
"It's not about my record,” he said. “It about the club. But we know this season at home we haven't been good enough.
“That's been encapsulated by today, where a team has come and been very organised and made it difficult for us to play and capitalised on us making a mistake. That seems to be a theme of this stadium this season and it's one we're keen to break.
“They know that this place needs to be turned into a fortress. We haven’t managed to do it.”
Aberdeen, who beat Dundee 1-0 at Pittodrie yesterday, can now move a point ahead of Rangers in the Ladbrokes Premiership table if they defeat Motherwell at Fir Park in their game in hand.
However, Murty, whose chances of being kept on beyond the summer would be damaged if his team fail to finish runners-up, is confident his team can bounce back and enjoy a good season.
“The message to the support is still believe,” he said. “I have a changing room in there who keep believing.
“Sometimes today that appeared to be lacking on the pitch at times, but we need to give the fans something to believe in. We are conscious of that. We know that. There is lots and lots for us to play for this season.
“We need to make sure that we get them energised, get them involved and get them believing until the end of the season because the chases and challenges we are still involved in are there to be grasped. We need to continue making the strides I believe we can.”
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