RANGERS have suffered several body blows so far this season but they have yet to be beaten by the count. Mark Warburton is on the ropes and he needs his side to come out fighting.

Six games in to the new Premiership campaign, Rangers have already dropped nine points and have been written off by many. It is a situation Warburton has never experienced at Ibrox, yet a challenge he must prove he can rise to.

Draws with Hamilton and Kilmarnock were bad enough for Rangers, but that was before an Old Firm horror show, the Joey Barton side-show and a stalemate against Ross County.

Read more: Chris Sutton questions Mark Warburton longevity if Rangers hit double trouble this weekGlasgow Times: Rangers manager Mark Warburton

Queen of the South arrive at Ibrox tonight looking to inflict further damage on the Light Blues and deny them a League Cup semi-final berth.

Warburton has regrouped at Auchenhowie, now his side must come charging out of their corner to silence their doubters.

Read more: Martyn Waghorn: Rangers will learn from their mistakes and continue to strive for improvement at Ibrox

“No, not really,” he said when asked if he had learned anything new about himself or his players this season.

“I have learned more about outside the club than inside the club if I am honest. I feel I have learned a lot more.

“There are always ups and downs in football. The key thing for any club is that you stick together and you learn from the adversity. That is what you have to do.

“I always compare it to other industries, I am naturally going to do that. But you have good days and bad days.

“You have to make sure you have more good days than bad days. If you are right seven times out of ten you are doing alright.

“We have to make sure that we learn from dropping points. We haven’t had the best start to the season.

“The pre-season was really good in terms of fitness but our games programme wasn’t that good. Did that have an impact? I don’t know.

“We have got to look at things like that and make sure we learn from it.”

Warburton hit back at his critics in the aftermath of Old Firm defeat but has not had his problems to seek since.

The fall-out to Barton’s dressing room bust-up continues, while an improved performance didn’t yield the required points at Ibrox on Saturday.

There is always an expectation on Warburton’s shoulders, but the pressure has undoubtedly increased as he looks ahead to the Queens clash and trip to Aberdeen this weekend.

Warburton said: “It is great when you are winning things and the Glasgow fish bowl is all very rosy. I am not being in any way sarcastic, far from it, it is just stating the obvious.

“Winning games of football, it is great. When you are not winning games of football you learn more about it.

“We have had a tougher start this year in terms of drawing a couple of games against Hamilton and Kilmarnock. You learn that pretty quickly, and so do the players.

“It is not about [a siege mentality]. That has gone by 20 years ago. It is about us recognising what we have to do.

“There is a real hunger to succeed, it is as simple as that. We want to be better, we want to win games of football and win trophies. That won’t go away.

“That goes for every team in the league, that is not unique to Rangers. But the expectation here is quite high and we have to recognise that and respond to it.”

Warburton has had plenty of time to become accustomed to life in Glasgow but he finds himself in a new situation at present.

The nuances of being a Rangers player can take some time to adjust to and those that arrived at Ibrox in the summer are still finding their feet in a unique environment.

Warburton said: “It is interesting when you speak to some of the senior players who came here this year, the likes of Clint Hill and Niko.

“They have been staggered by it. This is honest pros giving you their genuine feedback.

“They have been shocked by the intensity of the media, the scrutiny of the media.

“They have played at Premier League level or internationally and they have been shocked by it. But it is part of the learning curve.

“You are told about it but you don’t realise until you come to Glasgow and are in it. That’s what I mean about outside more than inside.”

Read more: Chris Sutton questions Mark Warburton longevity if Rangers hit double trouble this week

If Rangers are to put a barren run of form behind them and piece together a series of results to kick-start their title bid, Warburton will need his tried and trusted stars to lead by example.

The Barton deal looks to have backfired on the 54-year-old, but the likes of Philippe Senderos and Kranjcar still have a key part to play on and off the park.

He said: “You have to brave with your recruitment. You can play very safe all the time, but if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got, as the old saying says.

“Niko is outstanding. He has got a wealth of experience and is someone the boys listen to. He is one of the most gifted players I’ve ever seen. Many others have said the same.

“Philippe has come in with a wealth of experience from Arsenal, Milan, Fulham and Aston Villa. He comes in and passes that on to the younger defenders. I want that mentoring role as well.

“When you bring those players in you hope that they impact the team with their own performances first of all. Second, you hope they have a mentoring impact on the younger players around them.

“There is a lot of thought goes into that. So you hope very much that the likes of Josh Windass and Jason Holt will be better players and better people for playing and training with someone like Niko.”