Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin knows team needs to improve to fight back into title contention

Nico Raskin conceded Rangers’ current predicament is “not great” as he acknowledged they have no margin for error if they are to have any chance of rekindling their fading William Hill Premiership title hopes.

Gers seemed to be getting themselves back into the mix at the top of the table after an 11-game unbeaten run in the league, but their resurgence under Danny Rohl was brought shuddering to a halt with a 2-1 defeat at leaders Hearts on Sunday.

Although accustomed to playing second fiddle to city rivals Celtic for most of the three years that Raskin has been at Ibrox, Rangers now find themselves in fourth place, a point below Motherwell and a whopping 12 points adrift of the buoyant Jambos.

“Obviously it’s not great, it’s never been like that since I arrived,” Raskin said when asked about being so far behind the Edinburgh club.

“But that is the reality right now, they are there and are doing some good things that keeps them there.

“It’s up to us to learn and go forward, the season is still very long. But we can’t just keep saying that, we need to really improve.”

Rangers host on-form Motherwell and Premier Sports Cup winners St Mirren in their next two matches before travelling across the city to Celtic Park on January 3.

“Football is unpredictable and you never know what is going to happen,” Raskin said when asked if his team were capable of going on the type of run required to get back into title contention.

“We are not looking that far forward, we are just looking game to game. We need to win every game now, that’s it.

“We don’t have room for error. It’s been like that since the start of the season, we can’t afford to lose more points.

“We are not happy, we tried our best (on Sunday) and we need to stick together now and improve every game.”

Raskin admitted Sunday’s defeat at Tynecastle was a “reality check” after their recent unbeaten run in the league had raised hopes that they were on the right track.

“We are disappointed and very frustrated,” he said. “We can’t throw everything away but we need to be honest, look at the moment and say we’ve not been good enough.

“I feel it a lot, everyone in the dressing-room is very hurt. Right now it’s difficult and it’s difficult for our fans also because they always follow us and they want better.

“The only way forward is to stick together and keep trying to build something.

“There comes a point where we will get back to where we need to be. It’s just some tough times right now.”