Mark Warburton wants Rangers fightback after winter break
Saturday 31 December 2016 17:47, UK
Rangers boss Mark Warburton has urged his players to return stronger after the winter break to ensure they push Celtic all the way to the wire and finish as high as possible in the Scottish Premiership.
Warburton's side saw their 15-month unbeaten run at Ibrox come to an end at the hands of their Old Firm rivals on Saturday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
The 2-1 defeat to Celtic left a 19-point gap between the second-place side and Brendan Rodgers' league leaders, but Warburton insists his team will learn from another fierce battle with their neighbours.
"The boys have got a well-deserved break now, to recharge the batteries, and we need to come back for a very strong second half of the season," he said.
"I'm not worried [about Celtic's lead]. My only focus is on Rangers. We want to take this club as high as we possibly can, get European football and kick-on again.
"I'm not going to sit and say it was great that we got closer. We lost. We just got promoted last year and we are second in the table, but of course we want to go higher.
"I hope the fans stick with us. They have been magnificent and the support today was first-class. After the 15, 20 minutes we were under the cosh, the crowd united and had a reaction from the players.
"I'm disappointed obviously, as we've lost a game of football. We've also lost our record at home which is more than disappointing.
"In the first half hour I thought we were good. We came out the blocks, we were on the front foot and got the early goal, which is always pleasing.
"But theirs was a soft goal for us to give away and in the first 15 minutes of the second half I thought we were poor. We had chances but you've got to take them. So we have to learn from this."
