New-look Rangers are improving, says Murty
The Gers boss says his side are getting better despite Hibs loss
Rangers manager Graeme Murty claims his new-look team are close to ridding themselves of the inconsistency that has dogged their campaign.
The Light Blues have only built on back-to-back Ladbrokes Premiership wins once this season and missed another chance when they lost 2-1 at home to Hibernian on Saturday.
January signings Russell Martin, Sean Goss, Jamie Murphy, Jason Cummings and Greg Docherty all featured and Murty saw signs that his players were still learning about each other.
Goss levelled with a free-kick in the second half but Hibs regained their lead moments later after James Tavernier conceded a penalty.
"It will take time to work out everyone's strengths and areas for development, and I thought at times in the first half against Hibs we saw that, we weren't always in sync,'' Murty said ahead of Tuesday night's Glasgow derby against Partick Thistle.
"But in the second half we made some really good adjustments and we could have taken at least a point or maybe three but for a crazy 10 seconds.
"It's fine margins and the higher up the leagues you go, the more they come into play and the finer they are and the sharper you have to be in dealing with those margins.''
Rangers fans arrived at Ibrox buoyed by leaders Celtic's defeat at Kilmarnock but they left with their team falling six points behind second-placed Aberdeen.
When pressed on the consistency levels, Murty said: "I think we're getting there. We are not where we want to be just yet but we are moving along the right lines.
"But for four poor decisions on our part in 10 seconds right after we scored a goal, we are walking out of Ibrox with a smile on our faces and a bounce in our stride.
"But we have to react well to setbacks and from what I've seen on the training pitch, we are ready to do that.
"The result wasn't what we wanted, we are hurting, we are disappointed, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. It's not the end of the world. We have lost a game we should have won, we have a chance to get a win on Tuesday. It's all down to how we react.''
Murty feels coping with the Ibrox atmosphere is one way his side can improve.
"It's always about mentality in football,'' he said. It's always about reacting to situations. We want to impose ourselves on the game and have a style of play but you have to react in the right way to your opponents.
"What we didn't react well to was scoring a goal. We reacted rashly and naively to scoring a goal and having all the fans behind us. The place was bouncing, the atmosphere was outstanding when we scored.
"It's about making sure we use the energy in a positive way without losing our shape and our collective plan. We didn't manage to do that and 10 seconds cost us.'