Giovanni van Bronckhorst insists he can turn Rangers' fortunes around; the Ibrox side are seven points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race; Fashion Sakala will miss the remaining two games before the World Cup break
Tuesday 8 November 2022 21:00, UK
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is well aware of the speculation surrounding his future but insists he can turn things around.
The Dutchman is under increasing pressure after Sunday's 2-1 defeat at St Johnstone saw the Ibrox side drop seven points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race.
Rangers also failed to impress in the Champions League, recording the worst group campaign in history with six defeats and a goal difference of minus 20.
Van Bronckhorst took charge of Rangers just under a year ago and knows questions are being asked about his future.
"It's hard not to be aware of it. I don't live in a basement, so it's for everyone to see," he said.
"I've been in football a long time. I know I can turn it around or I wouldn't be sitting here.
"I am focused on the team and winning games, that is all that matters.
"I believe I can turn it around, all my focus is on winning tomorrow (Wednesday) - that is the most important thing.
"My job is to win games and no manager is safe when they don't."
Rangers face Hearts on Wednesday night before a trip to St Mirren on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, for their final match before the World Cup break.
Van Bronckhorst hopes the team can go into the break on a positive note and then return with some of their lengthy list of injured players back available.
"There's still a long way to go," he added.
"We made it more difficult for ourselves by losing points for the second time in the last couple of weeks. We need to change that and take the points every game now.
"It's very important to get the two wins. That's normal. And then we have the five weeks so I know we will use the break to get some players back and be stronger when we continue the league after the World Cup."
The manager also refused to write off his side in the title race, pointing to Celtic's turnaround from a similar position last year to become champions.
"Anything can change in football. We saw this also last season when we had a six-point gap and it changed by the end of the season," he said.
"It's football. You have moments over the period and you have to come out of it as quickly as possible and get the points.
"There's a lot of games to be played and points to be won but I think the most important thing is for us to start tomorrow with winning the game."
Fashion Sakala is the latest Rangers player to be sidelined through injury after picking up a muscle injury.
A number of players have been ruled out for large parts of the season, including Ridvan Yilmaz, Ryan Jack, Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Filip Helander and Kemar Roofe.
