Jack Butland believes Rangers must be prepared to endure a fortnight of pain if they are to make amends for Sunday’s defeat at Parkhead.
Despite a good start, Philippe Clement’s side eventually lost 3-0 and fell to fourth place in the Premier League before the international break.
Rangers have no game until they travel to face Dundee United at Tannadice, with Jim Goodwin’s men now a point ahead of them in the table.
But former England goalkeeper Butland feels the heartbreak of the latest derby defeat should be used as encouragement to quickly salvage a title challenge that currently has the Ibrox men five points behind Celtic and Aberdeen.
“We are going through a difficult period where we will not have any games for a couple of weeks,” he said.
“That’s going to be the hardest part. We’re going to be thinking about it for a long time.
Jack Butland cuts a distraught figure during the 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park
Former England international Butland says Rangers need to improve after the break
Butland tries to cheer up his teammates during the Premiership defeat at Parkhead
‘We’ll have days to look back on it. We’ll have a lot of training sessions between now and the next game. It’s important that we get them (the younger players) back. The next day, it won’t disappear.
There is no danger of that.
“It’s going to be something that will stay in people’s minds for a while. And it has to be that way because it’s very important for us and for the club.
So, yes, there are things to work on, things to improve, to be more efficient.
“But I think the faith is there and I hope that at least shows that we are still fighting.”
Forced to play the start of the season at Hampden due to a delay in building work at Ibrox, Clement’s men crashed out of the Champions League to Dynamo Kiev after dropping points to Hearts on Matchday 1.
Sunday’s defeat to Celtic, the fifth derby Clement has failed to win, deepened the sense of gloom that has surrounded the club since the summer.
Butland will hope, however, that the prospect of returning to Ibrox later this month will provide a timely boost.
“It’s not hard to get up,” he added. “It hurts. It’s not what we want. It’s not what we think our club is.”
“But we have the beauty of being able to return to Ibrox soon, be with the fans again and hopefully move on and put this behind us.
I think it’s a huge thing, in general, just for the club. I think the fans desperately need it. We desperately need it. But it’s not an excuse. It’s something we have to deal with.
We’ve handled it pretty well, I think.
‘We appreciate the fact that fans have made a difference and made changes to their weekends to come and support us.
Butland looks dejected as his team struggle to find a way back into the Outdated Agency game.
Butland saves a shot from the Celtic attack as Rangers come under intense pressure
The goalkeeper was criticised for his positioning when Furuhashi scored Celtic’s second goal.
“We hope to be back at Ibrox soon, but that is a secondary issue. We are disappointed about Sunday. I hope we have shown some things that can give hope to the fans.”
But we have to be better because we no longer want these results.
“We have some fantastic games and some great European teams to look forward to. The league is still our main objective, so we have work to do. Although we had good signs on Sunday, we need to improve.”
And that’s why I’m here. I’m here to try to help with that.”
Butland’s position when Kyogo Furuhashi scored Celtic’s second goal was questioned in some quarters.
“You never like to concede goals. You always look back,” he reflects.
‘I looked at my position in the second.
I think I was in a good position for the moment we were in in the game, having possession of the ball.
When I give up the ball, I try to get back to my optimal position, where I want to be at that moment.
“And maybe I didn’t manage to get back to where I wanted to go, ideally.”
