Lawrence Shankland admits Rangers' elimination from European football was "embarrassing" as he accepts they are yet to find their strongest starting XI.
The new captain at Ibrox has found it as difficult as anyone else so far this term with the Light Blues falling out of the Europa League to Jagiellonia Bialystok and then being knocked out of the Conference League by Jablonec.
Domestically the side also sit 10th with just two points from their opening fixtures and Shankland knows that is unacceptable. The striker refused to hide, though, and fronted up to the frustrations felt by both players, staff and the fanbase.
🗣️ "In Scotland, we like to write people off... That is what you're up against" An honest interview with Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland on both his own and the team's early-season performance ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/th68noalOJ
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 30, 2026
And he feels the same disappointment and shame at not having European football to play this term.
"There's no shying away or denying the disappointment of not being involved in European football," he told Sky Sports. "We can't accept that as a group.
"Obviously this season we're going to need to but us as a group, to be at this football club and not get Europe is... I don't want to use the word embarrassing because it's insulting to our opposition, but that's kind of how it feels."
On where Gers have struggled so far, Shankland added: "We're probably still at this stage trying to find our strongest XI, trying to find a rhythm for the team. A bit of balance that suits the squad we've got, the personnel out there to make it work. There's a lot of games in there to play as well as trying to learn and sometimes that can be difficult and it's proven to be difficult when results aren't going your way.
"It can make you feel a whole lot worse but we know what we're trying to do. We need to get better at it and do so quick because we need to start winning football games.
"People use the term trying too hard but that can be the case sometimes, everybody's trying to give their all and it's not quite coming together so that can be a frustration for everyone. We need everyone to stick together and be on the same page, we need to be a team and as soon as people start going as individuals we've no chance.
"That's the message that we're drilling in."
