Graeme Murty urges Rangers players to focus on Falkirk
Saturday 3 March 2018 15:29, UK
Rangers boss Graeme Murty has warned his players to focus their attentions on Sunday’s Scottish Cup game with Falkirk and not be distracted by next week’s Old Firm derby.
The Light Blues have moved to within six points of Scottish Premiership leaders and Glasgow rivals Celtic, although Brendan Rodgers' side have a game in hand ahead of their meeting on March 11.
Live Scottish Cup Football
First up is the visit of Falkirk to Ibrox in their quarter-final cup clash - live on Sky Sports - with Murty warning they would be doing the Bairns an injustice by not focusing their attentions on the game against their Scottish Championship opponents.
"There's anticipation with every Old Firm game but we have a really big game on Sunday that we need to take care of first," said Murty.
"So any players that are looking towards that next game [with Celtic] will get short shrift from me because that would be disrespectful to our next opponents.
Live SPFL
"I know our fans are looking to the Celtic game, I know it's looming large on the horizon. But let's take care of the next step, perform properly on Sunday, and then we can give our full attention and our full drive and power to the game after that."
Rangers are in good form having won 4-1 at St Johnstone on Tuesday, a result that saw them register five consecutive victories for the first time since March 2016, with Murty urging his players to maintain those high standards.
"When you look at the standards set at this club down the years we are striving to be up at that level - but we're not there yet," he added.
"Five games in a row is good and we want to praise the guys for it - but we have to continue on. It will mean nothing if we take our foot off the gas. We want to accelerate from here.
"The over-riding message to the players and the fans is, 'We're not what we need to be'. We're on the right path but we can get better and we will get better.
"This group of players, as they understand each other more, can improve their levels and show even more control in games. I still think we're just at the outset of our journey."
Watch Rangers v Falkirk in the Scottish Cup on Sunday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Football at 4pm.
The Old Firm game then follows on March 11. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football from 11:30am.
