Frustrated Rangers boss Mark Warburton hoping for fortunes to change

27 September 2016 15:21

Mark Warburton admits he is keeping his fingers crossed that Rangers' miserable luck will turn.

The Ibrox manager is starting to show the strain of his side's dismal start to the campaign.

The Englishman could not hide his frustration after referee John Beaton's blunder cost his side a point against Aberdeen as he raced onto the pitch to confront the official after he wrongly awarded a stoppage-time free-kick which allowed James Maddison to seal a 2-1 win for the Dons.

It was another setback for Gers, who have now dropped to seventh place after managing just two wins in their opening seven Ladbrokes Premiership fixtures.

Warburton was pleased to see his side dominate proceedings at Pittodrie but knows it is points which matter at this stage in the season.

But he is consoling himself a change in fortunes is inevitable.

He told the club's official website: "We know we went to Pittodrie, delivered a good display and should have come away with the points.

"The fine margins are never ever an excuse, you have to look at it and over the course of a season what goes around comes around.

"You'd like to think they even themselves out over 38 games but when you look at them, it's frustrating."

Rangers were undone when Beaton wrongly penalised James Tavernier for a foul on Johnny Hayes, with Maddison slamming home a sensational set-piece.

But Warburton insists he is not looking for sympathy despite the costly call.

"The free-kick came, has been well documented and I think has been clarified that there was no free-kick," said the Gers boss.

"They are the fine margins at the moment and they are not going our way, no excuses and we're not looking for a sympathy vote, far from it.

"It's difficult for our fans to swallow when you take one point from six, that's not Rangers but we hope very much that they can see a lot of big progress is being made.

"There is loads more to come but we think in the last few games we have seen significant, consistent progress."

Gers have managed just eight league strikes so far this term and have lost the opening goal in five of their seven matches.

Those statistics do not make for happy reading for Warburton but his answer to the problem is simple: "It is just work.

"We have to make sure that work is there and they have been putting it in. I get frustrated, David Weir does and so do the staff because they never got the rewards on Sunday.

"We asked them to be brave, the Aberdeen line-up suggested energy in their side, lots of running to shut us down and stop us playing our game. We got out time and time again and got on the ball and created chances.

"People talk about possession and it means nothing without penetration and goals but to go there and dominate the ball in that manner is pleasing.

"I think we had more possession and chances against Aberdeen than we had against Queen of the South but we were more clinical in that game.

"At 1-1 we felt we should have had more out of the game, we could have tested the keeper more.

"We had a header over the bar, Martyn Waghorn had an effort just over the bar, Jason Holt has put it wide and Joe Garner had a header blocked at the far post so we had a number of different chances."

Source: PA-WIRE