Rangers players pulling together, says Graeme Murty
The manager spoke for the first time since their Hampden fall-out
Graeme Murty believes he still has the backing of the Rangers squad and that the players remain unified despite the turmoil at Ibrox this week.
Following Sunday's 4-0 Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic, skipper Lee Wallace and veteran striker Kenny Miller were both suspended over their involvement in an alleged post-match argument, while Alfredo Morelos and Greg Docherty also found themselves in a dispute.
On top of dealing with that, Murty has had to this week console midfielders Andy Halliday and Daniel Candeias after both men reacted with frustration as they were hauled off during the chaotic derby defeat.
But Murty insists he still has the backing of his men.
The former under-20s coach - who refused to discuss the situation involving Miller and Wallace - held "clear the air'' talks with the remaining members of his squad on Tuesday morning and insists they are now fully focused on Sunday's vital showdown with Hearts.
Asked if he still had the faith of his players, he said: Yes - because I've trained with them all week. I've seen them work. They are thinking about Sunday. They are thinking about the biggest game of the season, which is the next one.
"I don't want people coming off the pitch happy at being beat. I want people who want to win.
"As long as we're all pulling in the same direction, those are the kind of personalities we want.
"The players are pulling really hard together. They've had a week where it could have been really easy to allow things to distract them - they haven't. They've focused inwards which has been really good for me as we need to prep for a really big game on Sunday.
"We're second in the league, going into a really big game live on Sky in front of a national audience. We have to perform and get our fans on-side.
"The work we've done this week would lead me to believe they're ready.''
Murty confirmed he had spoken to Docherty about his spat with Colombian hitman Morelos and was assured there was "nothing in it''.
Soothing Halliday's wounds will not be so easy.
Substituted four minutes before the break, the boyhood Gers fan had to endure the ignominy of the Hoops faithul singing his name as he trudged off.
While Murty regretted the timing, he stands by his decision.
"On a personal level, no-one likes to come off at that time and the impact of that has been hard for Andy,'' he said. I regret that as a human being. But in terms of a professional level I had to make a decision to alter the shape of the game.
"Andy was the unfortunate guy. It's horrible - but it's football.
"He didn't vent at me as he came off. I didn't know about it until afterwards. I've no idea who it was aimed at.''
Candeias walked straight down the tunnel after being sacrificed following Ross McCrorie's red card.
"I've spoken to Daniel too,'' Murty said. In an ideal world he'd have stayed on the bench, possibly. But we're all humans, emotionally-driven animals, so when that emotion gets hold it's difficult to suppress.'