Interim Rangers manager Graeme Murty has told the Ibrox squad that they are playing for their futures after the debacle in Dundee.

Murty has been left picking up the pieces from the dire defeat at Dens Park, but he has been impressed with the manner in which the players themselves have taken responsibility for putting things right.

He has stressed though that they must do their talking on the pitch at Inverness tomorrow night, as well as for the rest of the campaign, because their new manager – whoever it may be – will be watching closely.

"I'll be trying to make sure the players prepare as well as possible and go to another massive game ready to go and try and get a positive result,” Murty said.

“Every single time they put on the shirt is an opportunity because I've told them the new manager is watching. Simple as that, I can't make it any clearer to them, whoever it may be, the new manager is watching and they are forming opinion of you as players and people, so you want to put yourself in the very best light that you can.

“They’ve got it in their heads, they know that they are playing for their future. They’ve been told, not by me and not in a bad way, but they’ve told themselves in the group chat that they’re playing not only for themselves but each other, and also for the club.

“Whoever is going to come in is out there forming an opinion right now on what he wants this football club to look like in the near and the more distant future.

“So, if they want to be part of it, they have to go and stake a claim for it right now.”

For Murty, the challenge now is taking the positive work that has been done on the training ground to repair morale this week into a match against an Inverness side who are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table.

After failing so badly to apply themselves from the start of the game against Paul Hartley's full-blooded Dundee outfit, Murty concedes that there has been a fair amount of introspection going on around the Rangers camp.

"It's been what you would expect,” he said. “There's been soul-searching, forthright views. We haven't had a lot of time to dwell on it because the games have come around so quick, which is a good thing.

"But everyone’s involved. Staff, players, me. Not to dig people out or make it personal. Just to try and nail down things we need to do better as players and staff and hopefully those things will have been aired and worked upon.

"The most galling thing for me [against Dundee] was the performance wasn't indicative of the training they'd put in all week. They worked extremely hard and they were very intense during the week. So, the disappointing thing for me was the players didn't show their attributes and skills to the best of their abilities until it was too late.

“The players deserve credit for the improvement in the second half, but it’s too late and points are gone that we were desperate to get.

“The players are disappointed with themselves, but they know that the intensity we need to play at is something that can’t be turned on and off. They have to be ready to go from minute one.

“As was shown at the start of the game in the first 10 seconds, we need to be ready as soon as the whistle goes.”