Bruno Alves tells the Rangers players they must learn to cope with Ibrox pressure

St Johnstone became the latest side to leave Glasgow with three points, Hibernian, Celtic and Hamilton being the others, Hearts also got a draw, and the 3-1 defeat by the Perth men was the worst of them all.

Despite taking an early lead on Saturday, Rangers were devoid of spark and once again it seemed as if they couldn’t handle the expectation of the Ibrox crowd, especially in the second-half.

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Alves said: “We are disappointed after the four wins. It shouldn’t happen, especially at home. But we are trying to do better. We need to learn from our mistakes, keep moving forward and try to win our next games.

“It is very disappointing to lose at home because we get more motivation and more support from the fans. We are always playing in a full stadium. It’s amazing.

“Even in away games, we have a lot of support, but sometimes with a big team there is pressure, especially when we concede goals.

"We need to know how to handle the pressure because the pressure will always be there for the big teams.

“If we know how to handle the pressure better, we can have better results. Sometimes we need to have more patience with the ball. Sometimes it is not the best way to play fast.

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“It’s always a difficult situation when you need to score. We want to make everything faster. We need to be prepared when results are not the best for us. We need to be confident and patient to change results.

“Sometimes when we concede a goal, we must be patient, move the ball and wait for a better solution or a better decision. It’s about handling the pressure and being patient and believing that we can score.”

The Rangers supporters were left bewildered at the weekend by their team’s dreadful performance, especially after the recent wins over Aberdeen.

Alves said: “When you play for Rangers, you always need to have the motivation and be prepared to play against all the teams. I think we have the quality to show that we can do it. We need the support of everybody.

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“We still believe that we can reach the position that we want and the main goals we want.

“We want to win all the games and see what we can do. We cannot think about the end. We need to think game by game, be stronger as a team and not concede so many goals. We need to be prepared for that.”

Rangers are missing Lee Wallace, Kenny Miller and Graham Dorrans, but Alves believes it’s time for every player to stand up and counted, with a tricky trip to Kilmarnock coming up next Saturday.

He said: “We need everybody to improve the team. We need experience, but we also need young, fresh talent to bring something to the team.

"Sometimes experience is not enough. We also need quality, speed, a lot of things that I believe the team have.

“Of course, the players missing are important, but everybody together can do it. We want to perform well. We want to reach the position that everybody believes the team.”