LEE Wallace has insisted Rangers can recover from the stuttering start they have made to the Ladbrokes Premiership and regain the momentum they had built up before the defeat to Hibs.
Pedro Caixinha’s side is already five points behind Celtic, Aberdeen and St. Johnstone in the Premiership table after three games after losing to Hibs and drawing with Hearts at home.
The Ibrox club face a difficult task getting back to winning ways against Ross County – who held them to three draws last season - in Dingwall this Sunday.
However, Wallace, the Rangers captain and left back, has denied that their disappointing run is “a disaster” and expressed confidence they can recapture better form quickly.
“We would have been looking for a far better start, especially considering we had two home games back to back,” he said. “We have only got one point from that.
“We recognise it is not the start we wanted, but we are going to be working hard to put that right and the only way to do that is to get back training and trying to make things better. Hopefully, we can regain the momentum we had. It is not a disaster for us."
Asked if Celtic, who only dropped eight points last season, being so far ahead at such an early stage in the 2017/18 campaign, was a concern, Wallace said: “We just worry about ourselves and the small worry at the moment is that we have had two home games and we have only taken one point.
“We absolutely respect and understand what is going on across there, but we always look to ourselves. We want to regain momentum and close the gap.”
“That will just be a case of time. If the gap is there it will take a couple of wins to get that back. But, as we said, there is no worrying on our part.
“We are disappointed with the start that we have made, but we are going to constantly strive to be better. That will start off on Monday when we are back in and we will look to win the game against Ross County.”
The draw with Hearts has increased pressure on Caixinha, but Wallace stressed the players were supportive of their manager and his methods and are optimistic that performances and results will improve under him.
“We are just disappointed in the fact that there is that gap and we have not started the way that we wanted to,” he said.
“Every single game that we go into we want to win and we haven’t done that in the last two weeks. That is the overriding feeling in that dressing room, nothing else regarding the manager.
“We are fully behind what is going on here. We as players need to recognise that we need to start kicking on and regaining that momentum.”
Wallace, whose side is in sixth spot in the Premiership table, believes Rangers need to perform better up front if they want to overcome County in their next match and quell the unrest which is building in the stands.
“It was very frustrating on Saturday,” he said. “We felt we had the ball for long periods and probably didn’t do enough in the final third. We probably could have been a bit better around the box. We could have shown a bit more invention. These are things we are going to look at moving forward and try to make better in our game.”
The Rangers players were booed by their own supporters at the end of the Hearts game and Wallace believes the new signings must learn to deal with the demands on them to enjoy a successful season.
“We always have that pressure on us,” he said. “The guys know that’s what we’ve got. We have always got pressure on us in every single game whether it is a friendly game or a league game. We are always going to have pressure on us.
“It is something that the new guys coming into the team knew about and it is certainly something that we feel. But that just goes with the territory. For me, irrespective of any pressure that they put on us or any restlessness during games, they are the best fans out there. It is a privilege to play in front of them every week, home or away.
“As a player and as players down in that dressing room we are proud to represent that. But, equally, we are very disappointed when we are not sending them home with a win.”
Wallace added: “We have to approach every single game the same. We recognise the individual qualities of these teams, we recognise the fact we might not have been to places and won last year, but we are going to try and win every game.
“Dingwall, Parkhead, Hampden, Ibrox – whatever the venue, whatever the environment, whatever the weather, we want to try and win the game. That is something that we want to get into the boys, that winning mentality.
“It is a disappointment we haven’t managed to do that in the last two games, but I keep stressing we will keep looking forward positively and try to turn it around.”
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