Giovanni van Bronckhorst urges Rangers players not to let up pressure on Celtic

Rangers have to keep the pressure on Celtic in the title run-in, according to Gers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The Light Blues fell six points behind their Old Firm rivals last weekend with a damaging 2-1 defeat at Ibrox which followed a 3-0 loss at Parkhead in February.

There are six fixtures remaining and ahead of the final pre-split fixture on Sunday, against St Mirren in Paisley, the Dutchman admitted there was no more room for error.

“We have to keep the pressure on,” he told Sky Sports Scotland.

“Of course the result last week didn’t help us in achieving that.

“But we have to keep going. In April, when you feel the pressure you are playing for major prizes.

“But still, in the end, you don’t have anything yet so you have to keep going.

“Your games against your direct opponent for the title are always big games but you have to win the three points in all the other games as well.

“In most of the games we lost points, we did it unnecessarily. We dropped too many points before and also lost the last two direct confrontations with Celtic.”

Van Bronckhorst is aware of the excitement surrounding this weekend with so many clubs – including St Mirren – vying for a top-six place.

The Ibrox boss, who will assess his squad following their 1-0 Europa League quarter-final first leg defeat by Braga in Portugal on Thursday night, said: “It is a close call for spot number six, so they are there.

“Of course they have some teams above them so the results on Saturday will define whether they are playing for a top-six spot or not.

“They have shown in the past they can have good results against big teams.

“So we have to be ready on Sunday and we prepare for the game as well as we always do.”