The Rangers players suffered defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday as their championship credentials took a bitter blow
Nico Raskin says it’s not acceptable for Rangers to be 12 points off Hearts in the league – but admits defeat at Tynecastle was a dose of reality.
The Belgian star insists the Ibrox club have been nowhere near good enough so far this season. Their 2-1 loss to Derek McInnes’ side on Sunday left them fourth in the Premiership table, trailing Hearts, Celtic and Motherwell.
Raskin knows it’s unpalatable for Rangers fans to see their team in that position. But the 24-year-old says they have to take it on the chin and attempt to fight back for the remainder of the campaign.
Gers face shock troops Well at Ibrox on Saturday and Raskin has urged Danny Rohl’s men to get on track again. He’s refusing to give up on a title challenge just yet but accepts losing in Gorgie was a huge blow.
The Rangers midfielder said: “It was a reality check. We are disappointed and very frustrated. We can’t throw everything away (title bid).
“But we need to be honest, look at the moment – and say we’ve not been good enough. We have to learn from it looking towards the next couple of games.
“Right now it’s difficult, and it’s difficult for our fans also because they always follow us and they want better. The only way forward is to stick together and keep trying to build something.
“Is it unacceptable (12 points behind Hearts) for Rangers Yeah, obviously it’s not great. And it hasn’t been like that since I arrived.
“But that is the reality right now. They are there and are doing some good things that keep them there. It’s up to us to learn from Sunday’s game and go forward.”
Rangers were on a decent run of form under new boss Rohl – who suffered his first league defeat in Gorgie – before losing to the Jambos.
Goals from Stuart Findlay and Lawrence Shankland secured the points for the league leaders and put a massive dent in any potential title tilt from Govan.
Raskin won’t throw the towel in just yet but says if they’re going to get back involved at the top end of the table, they can’t suffer any more slip-ups.
He said: “The season is still very long. But we can’t just keep saying that. We need to really improve. Can we go on the kind of run we need to catch up? Yeah, football is unpredictable and you never know what is going to happen.
“But we are not looking that far forward. We are just looking game to game. We need to win every game now, that’s it. We don’t have room for error. It’s been like that since the start of the season. We can’t afford to lose more points.”