Rangers manager Russell Martin insists his team will “need the fans” after the Scottish club were beaten 3-1 in the first-leg of their Champions League playoff tie with Club Brugge at Ibrox.
Martin’s side endured a horror first half and trailed their Belgian opposition 3-0 after just 20 minutes courtesy of goals from Romeo Vermant, Jorne Spileers and Brandon Mechele.
It prompted loud booing from the home crowd but the hosts gave themselves a lifeline in the second half when Danilo pulled a one back to take a two-goal deficit to Belgium next week.
While Martin acknowledged the below par performance in the first 45, the Rangers boss remained focussed on the positives.
“That’s as hard as it will ever be for the players on the pitch. I’m proud of how they responded,” Martin told Amazon Prime.
“I’m really proud of the second half, the game is not over, the tie is not over.
“The energy was completely different in the second half and I’m really proud of them for that because it wasn’t easy. That’s the hardest a lot of these players are going to face.
“You can’t impact it from the sidelines. You put a gameplan in place to try and win the game but the decision-making changes because we’re so anxious.
“We were far too open, that wasn’t the gameplan. In the second half we didn’t change very much but we were much more competitive and looked a threat. The players ran really hard for each other and I’m proud of them for that.”
On the reaction of the supporters, Martin accepted that they had a right to voice their feelings but urged them to get behind the team ahead of next Wednesday.
The Rangers manager said: “The fans are all entitled to their opinion but we’re going to need them so much.
“This club has had a long period, bar one season, where it hasn’t been as successful as it wants to be so we need to come together.
“The team is going to need the fans. The precursor to change is pain. I knew coming here there was going to be some pain early on, we need to make sure the pain is worth it.
“We will grow together through this but we have to grow together as a club. We need to give supporters more moments like we did in the second half. The fans are the most important people in the club.
“We want to qualify for the Champions League and we’ll do everything we can next week.”
