James Tavernier has blasted back at suggestions Rangers ' mentality against Motherwell was weak after they blew a golden chance to reduce Celtic's lead at the top of the table.
The Ibrox captain is adamant that his side remains in the thick of the fight, just three points behind with 10 games to go, despite winning only three of their last eight league games.
"I don’t think you can question the mentality of the side," Tavernier said. "If you look at the two games against Dortmund there is no questioning the mentality of the side.
"There are only three points in it. We are right there. Obviously, we are disappointed in some of the games dropping points but performances have been good and we just need to improve on small areas and results will come."
The 2-2 draw with Motherwell on Sunday, after being 2-0 up at the break, frustrated fans and players alike after Celtic had spilled two points against Hibs earlier in the day but Tavernier claimed that Rangers shouldn't be focusing on results from the team across the city.
He added: "Regardless of what they do, we concentrate on ourselves.
"We always want to get three points both home and away. It’s just disappointing we are 2-0 up and comfortable, then in the second half we concede those two goals and don’t see the game out or put the ball in the back of the net. That’s our disappointment.
"We have been here before and we have to improve these situations and see out games.
"Wednesday (against St Johnstone) is massive for us and we have just got to look back on what we can improve on after coming from a really good win during the week.
"We have to get back to what we know best, which is being more solid and more clinical.
"We are getting into the right positions. It's just that final little bit to put it in the back of the net. It’s being clinical. In the buildup against Motherwell I thought we were really good, putting the ball into the right areas but it’s just that final bit we need to see out.
"We didn’t finish the game off. Our first half was comfortable, we had lots of possession and we were testing their back four and the keeper.
"The second half we did the same but we couldn’t find the back of the net. I haven’t looked back on the offsides yet but it’s just a missed opportunity for us.
"If you look back at the Dundee United game we were really strong. It was conceding a set-piece and not putting the ball in the back of the net. It was the same against Motherwell. We were really strong but the couple of moments they had were finished off.
"They put it in the back of our net. We have to tighten up a little bit more and see the game off, finish our chances. We created a lot and played good football.
"We have full belief in ourselves and come Wednesday we will be right at it."
