GRAEME Murty last night admitted he will feel like punching the television screen when he watches back the goals Rangers conceded in their 3-1 defeat to St. Johnstone at Ibrox yesterday.
Rangers allowed St. Johnstone to come from behind and record their first league win at the Govan stadium since way back in 1971 thanks to goals from Blair Alston, Denny Johnstone and Graham Cummins.
The shock result means that Murty’s men surrendered second spot in the Ladbrokes Premiership table to Aberdeen, who had earlier defeated Hibernian 4-1 at Pittodrie and moved three points clear.
Murty, whose side went into the game on the back of a four consecutive wins, was furious with his side’s display and admitted the defeat was a reality check for both himself and his players.
"I was disappointed with all the goals and when I go away and have a look at them in more detail I'll probably find it really hard not to put my fist through a screen,” he said. “But that display of emotion would just be for me.
“We showed the players what St Johnstone were going to try and do and the goals came from those exact scenario. That's the annoying part for me, not necessarily that they happened, but the manner in which we allowed them to happen. I thought all three goals were quite poor."
Murty added “I had something to say to them at the end - but not shouting and screaming and ranting and raving. I thanked them for the last four games, but every single time you walk out on front of this crowd, every time you put the shirt on, you need to hit a level of intensity and we didn't get there today.
”Sometimes in the big games, like when Aberdeen come here, the atmosphere is fantastic. When teams want to go toe to toe with you, it's easy to get to that level.
“When you're ‘expected’ to win, when you're ‘expected’ to put on a performance, it takes a different kind of bravery and possibly it's a bit of a reality check for myself and for the players as to where we are on this journey. We needed a different kind of attribute today and we didn't get it.”
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