Former Rangers chairman Dave King has called out a section of Rangers supporters over abuse directed at club captain James Tavernier.

The Ibrox skipper was berated by one fan in a viral social media clip in the aftermath of the 3-0 defeat to Celtic last weekend.

Footage showed the defender being branded "nothing but a f****** loser" and repeatedly told to "f*** off" by a furious supporter outside Ibrox.

King - who served as chairman at Ibrox previously - has called for an end to the personal abuse aimed at Tavernier as he hailed the "100% loyal" defender who "repeatedly saved us in key games for a decade".

In a statement to the Rangers Review, King commented: “It is incredibly disappointing to hear that a small minority of supporters are letting their anger temporarily overcome them to the point of directing personal abuse at our players.

“We are all immensely disappointed at the performance of our team and its decline since title 55. That, however, is not the fault of the present team or the individual players who were approached to play for the Club (not the other way round) and who are mostly doing their best."

Read more: 

King has insisted the players are not solely responsible for the current troubles at Ibrox and called for supporters to remain loyal and not turn on players.

He continued: "Individual players cannot be held accountable if the combined result of recruitment and team preparation results in poor performance.

 “Rangers supporters are loyal supporters. Turning on our captain, who has been 100% loyal to Rangers and (memories are short) repeatedly saved us in key games for a decade, is the opposite of loyalty and I hope that most supporters will join me in condemning such behaviour.  Supporter anger should not be directed at our team.

“Our Club finds itself in a largely self-inflicted decline but turning on our own players is not the Rangers way."