GIVEN everything he has been through since agreeing to take over from Pedro Caixinha back in October, it is really no surprise Graeme Murty has taken this week’s events at Rangers in his stride.

The revelation that officials at the Ibrox club had spoken to Liverpool great Steven Gerrard about the manager’s position was probably not ideal ahead of another big game against Celtic tomorrow.

But Murty has grown to expect the unexpected during the six turbulent months he has been in situ and has been unaffected by the mild hysteria which has accompanied the Gerrard bombshell.

Read more: Graeme Murty undeterred by Rangers talks with Steven Gerrard​

The 43-year-old believes he has gained invaluable experience during his time in the high-profile job which will stand him in good stead in the future regardless of where and what level that is.

“I am not sure that there are many people who could do better than I’ve done in their first managerial appointment with the circumstances I inherited,” he said.

“I think, up to this point, I have done a good job. I want to do a better job. I want to be given the opportunity to do a better job. If I am, fine. If not, no-one can ever, ever take away what I have experienced.

“I have had a decade of personal development in the last six months. From dealing with the media, to dealing with changing rooms, to dealing with staff, to dealing with an eerily quiet stadium, to a slow death in front of 50,000 people at Hampden.

Read more: Emile Heskey: Gary McAllister enabled Steven Gerrard to conquer Europe with Liverpool - he can help him at Rangers

“I have been questioned from every single manner of person, but I am still sitting here and talking to you about progressing this football onwards. I think I have represented myself and developed myself in a very mature and considered and positive manner.

“I think whatever post I take up, I will be a better person for this experience. Listen, you are talking about a couple of weeks away. I am never going to be anything other than immensely grateful for this opportunity.

“To stand on the sidelines and take the amount of Old Firm games I have taken, actually, has been outstanding. I want it to continue. But to get it to continue, you have to go and win the games. I understand that, it’s part of football.”

So has the confirmation that Rangers have spoken to Gerrard, who is currently the under-18 coach at Liverpool, disappointed Murty? Has it been detrimental to his standing in the dressing room? Will it have an impact on their performance against Celtic tomorrow? If he was at all bothered he did very well to hide it.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Celtic would have been a difficult first job for me - Steven Gerrard must choose the right club for him​

The former Scotland internationalist will demand his charges, who let themselves and their club down in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden earlier this month, front up at Parkhead tomorrow and atone for that woeful performance. He led by example as he performed his media duties yesterday.

Asked if he had been informed his services as manager were no longer required, he said: “Nobody has told me that. There is going to be speculation and I am not naive. I have been around football long enough to know that conversations happen and people’s names are thrown in.

“That will be by agents and people in the media. Some would take the role, others are pie in the sky. That’s fine. Discussions will happen at a level above my remit. But why would I consider anything else but doing a job as well as I possibly can to make appointing anyone else as difficult as possible.”

Asked if he was comfortable with directors speaking to other potential candidates while he was in the job, he said: “Of course I am. The board would be remiss in their duties if they didn’t explore all possibilities to bring the best person in to this club.

“This club deserves the best person in this post. I have an opportunity to prove that I am the best person. Thousands of people out there will tell you it’s not me. Fine, no problem. I have four games left to do my damnedest to get it, and I will be fighting as hard as I can.”

Read more: "Andy Robertson is brilliant - he has adapted to what Jurgen Klopp wants him to do at Liverpool well"

Murty admitted he had been involved in discussions to bring new players to the club – Scott Arfield will arrive from Premier League club Burnley in the summer and Scotland keeper Allan McGregor is likely to follow him – but he is relaxed about what impact that will have on his players too.

“The remit is to improve the dressing-room, to bring in better players and enhance what we have moving forward,” he said. “We have to bring in better players and I am part of that.

“I addressed the situation with the players. I told them there is a lot of speculation flying around about this player, that player, this manager and that manager, whatever.

“Their job as footballers is to take care of business on the pitch. I told them ‘If you are going to be here next year, and I am going to be here, then you owe me a performance’.

“If someone else is watching and they are going to come in, they definitely owe themselves a performance to get in their thoughts. There is no better place to do it than Parkhead.”