GRAEME Murty last night insisted he retains the backing of the Rangers players in the wake of the dressing room bust-up that led to Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace being suspended and vowed to continue as manager.
Ibrox club captain Wallace and vice-captain Miller have been told to stay away from training while an investigation is carried out into the events which followed the 4-0 defeat to Celtic in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final last Sunday.
However, Murty is confident the pair’s team mates are still firmly behind him and can compete with Celtic at Parkhead a week tomorrow and secure second place in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Meanwhile, the 43-year-old, who has only been confirmed as manager until the summer, stressed he had no problem with his players voicing an opinion or even questioning his decisions as long as they did so constructively.
He also revealed that Wallace, out with a groin injury since September, had declared himself unfit to play against Celtic last Saturday after being named in the Rangers squad.
Asked if he had the support of his charges ahead of the match against Hearts at Ibrox tomorrow, Murty said: “Yes. The guys have trained well. They've regained focus and focused on what we've got to do on Sunday.
“It would have been really, really easy to let things outside our control and our gates dominate and they haven't. They've focused on the training and trained really well. That leads me to believe they have got their minds set on putting in a performance on Sunday which is all I need to see.
“We’ve got to put in a good performance on Sunday. The club is and always will be the most important thing. Come Sunday, you have to make sure you go and have prepared yourself properly throughout the week regardless of personal attachments or friendships.
“That’s outwith their control. I’ve said to them since I came in – anything that’s outwith your control you can’t worry about. Focus on yourself. Make sure you are ready to go if called upon. And they have been this week.”
Murty, who oversaw a 1-1 draw with Celtic at Parkhead in March last year and was then responsible for a 0-0 stalemate there in December, is confident his side can bounce back from their semi-final defeat.
“We’ve had four games with Celtic since I’ve been in charge,” he said. “The last game is the only one when we didn’t lay a glove on them and haven’t competed. In the three games that we did, there was a formula, an intensity and a workrate about us that caused them problems.
“So I’m confident this team can, on any given day, compete with the best in the country. I still believe that. I will never stop believing that. We didn’t last week and it’s raw. It’s absolutely burning me up. But the way to get past I’ve always found is to get out there and smash it as hard as you can and get ready for the next game.”
“We've got it in our own hands to finish second. This team has the talent and the capacity to finish second and that belief will not change."
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