DARREN McGregor today hit back at claims the Rangers players don't care enough about the fortunes of the struggling Ibrox club.

And the centre-half has vowed to redouble his efforts in 2015 to help the Gers clinch promotion to the SPFL Premiership.

McGregor and his team mates have been heavily criticised for their performance in the 4-0 defeat to Hibs at Easter Road last weekend.

And many brassed-off Light Blues supporters have accused them of not being bothered about whether they won or lost.

But the defender has insisted he was gutted at the reverse in the capital and is desperate to help Kenny McDowall's side get back to winning ways.

He said: "I can genuinely say that none of the boys go out on the park and think to ourselves: 'I don't fancy it today'. We aren't happy to get beaten. It hurts so much to get beat.

"This isn't my club. I have only been here for six months. But the affection and connection I feel for the club is massive. I want to do well for it. It hurts me as much as it hurts the fans. My girlfriend will tell you that, and my friends will tell you that. It does really mean a lot to me.

"So, to put in a poor performance like that does matter a lot to me. To get beaten in so many departments is hard to stomach. We need to keep grinding on and working on the things we know we are doing right. Hopefully the tide will change."

McGregor added: "We analyse every game on a Monday or Tuesday. We look through it and pinpoint where mistakes happened.

"But there were obviously so many against Hibs that you have to hold your hands up and say: 'It wasn't good enough'. You could freeze frame any goal at any level and pick it apart. That is what we did and I think we are in a better place for it.

"We need to move on and look towards tomorrow. Hopefully we can set a marker for the second half of the season. There is a lot to be done and currently we are in a dogfight.

"Teams are looking at us and probably thinking we are vulnerable at the minute. We need to put a united front together and show we can put a string of results together."

The loss to Hibs mean that Rangers fell 15 points behind Hearts in the SPFL Championship table - and raised serious doubts about their ability to go up through the play-offs.

But McGregor said: "It probably boils down to how much we want it. It is going to be difficult. We are in a dogfight at the minute. Hearts are flying high just now.

"We can't actually concentrate on them. We need to be concentrating on our own game and taking each game as it comes and trying to win the next one in front of us. We need to build that momentum up.

"We have proved in games gone by, albeit in cup games, that we can win against good opposition. We have beaten three Premiership teams. We have put results together where we have gone seven or eight games undefeated.

"We need to recapture that form. That should hopefully stand us in good stead for the rest of the season."