Graeme Murty knows Rangers are on the right track, because even Neil Lennon told him so

The Hibs boss and former Celtic captain was impressed by Rangers in the game at Ibrox, and admitted to Murty that he feared his team were certain to lose until they were gifted a penalty by James Tavernier’s rash challenge on Scott Allan.

While that is cold comfort to the Rangers manager, he agrees with Lennon’s assessment of his side, and urged them to cut out the individual errors that are costing them dearly and undermining their overall efforts as a team.

“Talking to Neil Lennon and his staff after the game he was really impressed with us, which I suppose is really easy when you’ve won the game,” Murty said.

“He thought they were out on their feet and he was grateful to get the penalty because he thought the atmosphere was amazing and our fans were great.

“Neil was telling me that after the game, that he thought we would have gone on and won it. Gary Parker was the same, they were really worried, and they thought we were very good in the second half.

“Great, thanks. I said the same to them at Easter Road, but I still walked out with the points and now they have walked out with the points.

“I’m proud of the way the players played, the same way Neil was at Easter Road. I thought we took it to them.

“They are a good team, let’s make no bones about it, they caused us lots of problems in the second half, but the adjustments we made and the mentality we showed in the second half, if we play like that for the rest of the season then we’ll win more game than we lose.

“It’s just a shame for the players that they worked so hard and didn’t get any reward for it but those are the breaks in football and you move on, pick yourself up.

“We worked incredibly hard to get back into the game and took the game to Hibs very well in the second period.

“But we made four mistakes in a row in the space of 10 seconds and that cost us at least a point.

“You won’t get away with that at this or any other level. You might get away with one or two and it’s a harsh lesson because in the second half we were really good.

“I won’t allow those 10 seconds to sour what was a positive half, but we didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”

Immediately after the game, Murty was angry about the penalty award that went against his men and ultimately proved critical to the outcome of the game, but after reflecting on the incident, he has changed his outlook somewhat.

He thinks that the entire move that led to the penalty though, not only the foul committed by Tavernier, should be a lesson to his players.

“I can see why the penalty was given,” he said. “If it had happened to our player I’d want it to be given for me, but it doesn’t change my take on what we did to allow it to happen and allow the player to go over.

“I’m more concerned with the fact we made elementary errors and allowed them to get there and give the referee a decision to make.

“James was apologetic in the changing room afterwards. He’s been great for us and he made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, we’re all human.

“Everyone can sit and be an expert after it, but you gain nothing from that other than make yourself feel slightly better.

“We’ve got to learn from these things and make sure we eradicate them from our next performance and hopefully we will do.”

Murty says he isn’t overly concerned by Rangers’ home form, despite losing three of the eight matches at Ibrox since taking charge of the side for the second time, and he insists that it isn’t a relief to be playing tonight’s match against Partick Thistle away from their own ground.

He also believes that his side are still well-placed to grab second spot despite falling six points behind Aberdeen on Saturday, albeit with tonight’s game in hand.

“I think we’re in a good place,” he said. “We’ve got a challenge ahead of us, but I think we’re in a better place than what we were two or three months ago.

“I don’t think we’re in as good a place as we will be come the end of the season in terms of the way that we play and the understanding we have of one another, because let’s not forget, this is still a fairly new team with players who are just in the door.

“We still need to blend, so when you have a setback, that’s when your culture and your environment is tested.

“I’m really quite grateful that we have a game straight after so that I can see how the guys react.

“From what I have seen from the way the guys trained today, they are ready to go again.”