'˜I'm already feeling pressure of managing Rangers' admits Graeme Murty

Graeme Murty admits he is already feeling the pressure of managing Rangers just one game after being given the Ibrox reins on a permanent basis.

But he has now challenged his Light Blues squad to prove they can cope with the demands of playing for Gers after slumping to back-to-back defeats.

Murty was told on Friday he will be in charge for the remainder of the season having overseen nine games during his caretaker stint.

Graeme Murty has challenged his squad to prove they can cope with the demands of playing for the club. Picture: SNS GroupGraeme Murty has challenged his squad to prove they can cope with the demands of playing for the club. Picture: SNS Group
Graeme Murty has challenged his squad to prove they can cope with the demands of playing for the club. Picture: SNS Group
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And he has demanded a reaction when his side face Motherwell on Wednesday night after twice throwing away leads as they lost to St Johnstone and Kilmarnock.

“The pressure might increase on me because it’s now ‘my team’, if you will,” said the club’s former under-20s boss.

“They are still the same players that I inherited and I’m still the same person. We have to make sure though that the players are calm about my role and that it’s still not really about me.

“It is still about them and when they do their work. I’ve finished most of my work by 2:50pm on a normal match day.

Graeme Murty has challenged his squad to prove they can cope with the demands of playing for the club. Picture: SNS GroupGraeme Murty has challenged his squad to prove they can cope with the demands of playing for the club. Picture: SNS Group
Graeme Murty has challenged his squad to prove they can cope with the demands of playing for the club. Picture: SNS Group

“I can make substitutions and I can give instructions but I have to give over responsibility for the performance to the players because the players have to perform.

“That’s the part that is frustrating for me, because the players do display ability, fight and bravery at times. But we need it to be all the time.

“When the players walk out onto the pitch, they need to execute.

“There are times when we do but there are frustratingly times when we are not near the right level.”

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Murty looked shell-shocked after his side’s late collapse against Killie on Saturday.

Having looked comfortable during the opening 45 minutes at Rugby Park, they faced a barrage after the break and were sunk by former Ibrox hitman Kris Boyd’s double.

It was a weak second-half display and all the more frustrating for Murty as Gers failed to hit the heights they managed during their home-and-away triumphs over Aberdeen earlier this month - two results which established the 43-year-old as the front-runner for the post once Derek McInnes turned it down.

That latest setback means the former Reading defender has now won just six of the 10 games he has presided over since Pedro Caixinha was axed.

He said: “The Aberdeen games are the classic example. Had we managed it well, they could have been a watershed moment for the players in terms of understanding the intensity and the level of quality required.

“I’d hoped we’d kick on from there. But it’s frustrating that we can’t show a level of consistency where we are able to display that level of quality for longer.

“However, that remains the benchmark of the quality we need that the players have to look at.”