Rangers boss Danny Rohl refused to accept that his team bottled it after blowing a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against Celtic at Ibrox.
Rohl’s side were utterly dominant during the first half and two goals from Youssef Chermiti gave them a commanding lead at the break.
A second-half collapse then opened the door for a resurgent Celtic to fight back and claim a point thanks to goals from Kieran Tierney and Reo Hatate.
The Ibrox crowd voiced their frustrations at full-time on a day where both Old Firm clubs lost vital ground to leaders Hearts in the title race.
Hearts are now six points ahead of Rangers and eight points ahead of Celtic, whose game in hand sees them travel to Aberdeen in midweek.
But Rohl was defiant when asked about the character of his players and insisted they remain firmly in the hunt, saying: ‘No, I will not accept the [questions over] mentality, I think this is always easy.
Danny Rohl says it is too easy to question Rangers’ mentality after the 2-2 draw with Celtic
John Souttar shows his frustration after Rangers concede two goals in the second half at Ibrox
Rangers striker Youssef Chermiti’s early double included a spectacular overhead kick
‘Everyone who played football knows during a game there is a story, there is a momentum for one team, for the second team.
‘It’s about continuing our performance over 95 minutes. If we do this, then they would not have a chance to come back. I think this is also part of it.
‘We have now six points, the gap, still with nine games to go. I will not be tired and say this again and again, this year it’s about the final matchday, not today.
‘We will fight for every point until the end. Next week in the cup we have the next chance against them, we will try to improve, this is key.
‘And then we go again. I think nine games, it’s massive, it’s a lot of things to play for and I totally believe in my players.’
Rangers were dominant during the first half in what was arguably the best 45 minutes of football they have produced under Rohl.
But the drop-off in the second half was alarming. Celtic were rampant and could have scored two or three goals themselves long before Hatate finally netted the equaliser on 91 minutes.
Rohl believes that his players set the benchmark for themselves during that first half, but now need to maintain it on a much more consistent basis.
‘Yeah, of course, you need wins,’ he continued. ‘I think everyone in this room will agree, everyone saw how Rangers played.
‘I think this is our benchmark, what we should play in the future more and more. Not just 50 minutes, it’s about 95 minutes. We couldn’t keep this performance and this is what we have to improve.
‘In the second half, I think there were some moments where we lost the ball in areas we shouldn’t. We gave them some transition moments, then the field was too stretched, we lost a little bit of compactness.
‘I think we tried to stabilise the midfield with a third midfielder. But football is then about energy. As an opponent they tried everything with nothing to lose.
‘At the moment, the feeling is more disappointment because you dropped two points after a 2-0 lead.
‘Finally, it’s a draw. It’s always a little bit lucky for a team to get a late penalty. This is normal, I would say it’s the same when we get a pen late in the game. It’s about the next game and we have to move on.
‘We go again. We’ll try next week in the cup game and hopefully we can keep our performance over 90 minutes.
‘There are still nine games to go, this is 27 points. All games now will be tough for all the teams. We believe until the end. This season, the decision making will be on the last matchday.’
