Quotes from the post match press conference at Ibrox Stadium this evening:

 

The Match

“If you get a clean sheet at Ibrox with the talent that is in that Rangers dressing room, you know you have done a lot of things right.

“It was more than a decent performance.

“A lot of things had to go right today.

“We had bags of effort, as we normally get from the boys. We had a lot of concentration. We were nice and compact; the boys were sticking to their tasks with Rangers constantly asking the question.

“Sometimes if you don’t take those chances at places like Ibrox it can be demoralising for the players, but they never let their heads go down. Their shoulders never shrunk, they just kept going at it.

“It wasn’t perfect because we haven’t won but it was a good performance. We deserved our draw.

“I thought that we had the best chances of the game, despite Rangers having the majority of the ball.

“I have such a high regard for this Rangers team. The way that Steven has got them playing. How they can play round you, play through you, play beyond you, they have got a bit of everything. For us to keep them out with a clean sheet is really pleasing.

“It tells you how well the players have done today.

“It’s a point in the right direction. It’s a point that nobody would have thought we would have picked up today, but it is just a point.

Defensive Performance

“We have had four games since we came back. We have lost one goal from a set play which I am annoyed about but by and large we have been very solid defensively as we showed today.

“We now have a proper midfield; we have got options in the middle of the park. It allows us to have a bit more control, a bit more protection for the back line.

“We are still looking to try and be a bit more threatening in the forward areas. Today wasn’t the perfect day for analysing or judging that but we have got games coming up.

“We want to come out of February, sitting third in the league and in the quarter final of the cup and that’s our intention, that has always been our intention and that is what we will work towards.

Recent Criticism

“I trust my players and I believe in the squad. I can understand a certain level of the criticism and that comes with the territory.

“We take our point and we knuckle down. We have been through tough spells before in my time here. I have shown, and my teams have shown, that we always come through it.

“We just knuckle down, we work hard and try to ignore the noise and just concentrate on what we do and that is working really closely together, the players and the staff from Monday to Friday to try and deliver better performances.

“I am confident we will deliver better performances in the second half of the season. We are not far off third spot from where we want to be.

“There is still more to come from us.

“We will get there.”

Transfer Business

“We were close last night to getting another one in.

“We have had a decent window.

“Bringing McGeouch in, Kennedy will get better as he goes along and Hernandez who we are very excited about. He is the type of signing we should be making at the club. That young potential with the ability to go and improve. He is another one who brings speed and a bit of creativity to the side. He is a boy we are looking forward to working with.

“Very few managers get what they want in January, but I am pretty pleased with the work we have done.

Ronald Hernandez

“Shay has been a brilliant performer and he continues to do well for me. He is 32 and it is up to us to keep looking at the future of the club and getting young players in.”

“Every position at a club you have always got to have competition. Hernandez is one that plays the game differently to Shay.

“He is not a player who can play on one and play with his back to goal in a wider area, but he can be a wing back, he can be a raiding full back from there.

“I do think at times we have missed that type of full back.

“Greg Leigh has been injured, he replaced Max Lowe who was that type of full back.

“I have always liked at least one of my full backs to be that raiding full back who has a high starting position and to try and be a winger in the opposition half.

“I don’t think we have had that this season because of injuries. I think that is why we have not created so much in the wider areas as well.

“We are bringing a player in who we think is exciting. He has done quite a bit for somebody so young. It is an unusual signing for us, but it shows you how our recruitment has been in certain months, we have been concentrating on certain leagues in Europe with Norway being one of them.

“Our collaboration with Atlanta has helped us to get to the stage where we are now with it. Although he was on our list, we always thought it was going to be difficult to get him into the country and get him playing for us. Through different contacts from Atlanta, he was one that was on their system as well and we married all of that together.

“It shows you that collaboration working perfectly through the recruitment teams and hopefully it is the start of many.”

Cosgrove Chance

“I thought that McGregor has done well. If you watch it back, when Sam lifts his head, McGregor runs back and as soon as Sam puts his head down, McGregor sprints forward.

“It was a combination of very clever goalkeeping and a heavy touch from Sam. I think the heavy touch has allowed the chance to go but it was a real opportunity.

“I thought that he led the line brilliantly today. Their two centre halves knew that they were in a game. Sam was running, exploiting the space down the side of them, he was a constant handful.

“He should have maybe scored on Niall’s cross as well in the first half, I don’t know if Goldson has got a slight touch. His performance was very good. It was a strong number nine performance for us today.”

Performances After the Winter Break

“In the winter break we try and let the players shut down and then we fire them back up again, it is like a mini preseason. Most clubs bring players in during January who haven’t been playing. You get them for a reason. They have maybe not been playing, Matty has had a wee bit of an injury, Dylan hadn’t been playing.

“You are also trying to bring them up to speed. There is no point in bringing players in to improve your team but then not play them.

“You are trying to work them through. There has been an element of that from us and Ojo. I thought he was very good today as well.

“With the winter break, sometimes it can take players a while to get back to full match sharpness and play with that edge again.

“When you do knock off, maybe subconsciously that edge goes from your game.

“From our point of view, we feel that we have not moved the ball quick enough in certain home games that we have had. The game at St Mirren last week we were looking for a bit more speed, to play with a bit more movement, anger and passion.

“We have normally come out of the winter break feeling fresher and we have finished the season stronger as a consequence of the break.

“Hopefully that is still the case for us.”