Russell Martin confident Genk defeat will not lead to Rangers sack as he pins blame on one thing

The Ibrox side went down 1-0 against Genk and struggled to overcome a significant disadvantage after Diomande was red carded for a reckless challenge in the middle of the park four minutes before half time. Although Hyeongyu Oh saw Jack Butland save his penalty shortly afterwards, the former Celtic striker made amends with what proved the game's winner ten minutes into the second half.

Oh failed to take at least three good other good chances to score. The Belgian side also hit the post in the first half as they put their own poor domestic form to one side.

Rangers, on the other hand, could not though Martin was unbowed. Asked about his own side’s failure to create many chances, he stressed the red card was a major factor. “I think with ten men it's difficult," he said. "I think the longer the game goes on, if we actually dominate the ball and if you look at the last two games, the longer the game went on we created. We'll get there.”

When it was put to him that the visitors’ goalkeeper Hendrik Van Crombrugge did not have to make a save, he again pointed to the uneven numbers, with Rangers forced to play for around 50 minutes a player down. “We had 10 men for a long time. I think Jack only had two real saves to make in the second half as well. So, yeah, the red card changes a lot.”

Martin felt confident that the powers-that-be will take this into account when assessing what the future holds for him. He has now won just four out of his first 14 matches as Rangers manager. “I don't think a game tonight where we're down for ten men for that long changes things a huge amount in terms of that,” he said. “So, I feel nothing but support from them.”

Although he felt aggrieved at the time, Martin had accepted Diomande deserved to see red for his challenge on Zakaria El Ouahdi by the time he spoke to reporters. “Unfortunately for Dio, the ball was bouncing so it looks high, so no, not when I watched it back,” he reflected. “At the time I did but not when I watched it back.”

He stressed that he can turn things round at Rangers. Mutiny never felt far away against Genk, with some fans turning on Martin as soon as the final whistle sounded. As well as losing the first match of an eight-game Europa League group stage, Rangers are currently joint second bottom of the Premiership. The team now head to Livingston on Sunday when it will not get any easier.

‘Red card changed game a lot’

“The way the players train, the way they stick together in the second half, the feeling inside the training ground, so I can't control anything else apart from that,” Martin replied when asked where his belief that things can change at Rangers is coming from.

“The red card changed the game a lot,” he said. “I was looking forward to getting to half time. We had a few key points across to help the performance. We started fine, we had a bit of control and then we had a ten-minute spell where Genk got on top because we just didn't look after the ball anywhere near well enough. We forced it a little bit. We defended too deep because we didn't take care of each other with the ball. I thought we rode that out and it looked like we were getting a bit of control back and then Dio gets sent off. It's frustrating for us, really frustrating.”

He praised the players for their willingness to take the ball when they had ten men. “I asked them to be really aggressive and not just defend for 45 minutes to try and get a draw and get a point,” he said. “I thought we looked a threat. And they had a couple of moments but they didn't cut us open. It wasn't like we were defending relentlessly and we had a couple of moments ourselves.

“But they had a lot of balls that went across the goal and it looks scary and it is, and a couple of them were offside but they don't bother giving offside because it's a goal kick to us. So yeah, I'm frustrated. The red card changes a lot but I'm proud of the effort since the second half.”

Rangers did have some moments of hope, including a VAR check for a penalty for possible handball in the first half that ended up being a free-kick to Genk for a push by James Tavernier. “I think we should have a penalty, yeah,” he said. “I don't think Tav affects the defender. “