Russell Martin has said he was “disappointed” that his side did not beat Celtic during the first Old Firm encounter of the season but was “proud” of his players following a much-improved performance.

Martin and Rangers were under pressure following a humiliating 6-0 defeat to Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers that saw his side fall to a 9-1 aggregate loss, with questions beginning to be raised regarding if the former Southampton manager was the right man for the job.

However, his side put in one of the better performances of the season after controlling what was ultimately a drab Old Firm derby which ended 0-0.

Despite the result, Rangers did threaten and were unlucky not to have taken the lead if not for VAR ruling out a John Souttar header for offside in the first half, but outside of this chance, they failed to register a shot on target against a Celtic side that looked flat and out of sorts.

Martin was full of praise for his side come full time and looked ahead to after the international break, where Rangers will take on second-place Hearts at Ibrox.

Martin said: “I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but I thought the guys were great; the desire, the fight, and especially after a difficult week, the response was amazing.

“I loved their reaction to midweek and their response, but it’s disappointing not to win the game.

“I really liked the end of the first half; I thought the lads were desperate to win the game, and that’s all I wanted was to have that desire.

“I said to the players, ‘We’ve kept a clean sheet, and we’ve shown a fight and intensity that was much better than other games this season. Now we have to reset and look forward.”

It had been 36 matches since the last 0-0 draw between the two sides, and it was a result reflective of two sides on edge and under pressure following results in Europe that saw Rangers and Celtic embarrass Scottish football on the big stage.

However, whilst the draw for Celtic continues their minor blip in form that has come following a 100% winning start to the SPFL season, the result for Rangers has seen Martin break an unwarranted record.

It had been 42 years since Rangers failed to win one of their four opening games in the SPFL, and Martin now finds himself in the centre of one of his side’s worst starts to a league campaign. With just four points from four games, the international break has potentially come at the right time, with something needing to change and change fast at Ibrox.

 Written by Riley Taylor