Caretaker boss Graeme Murty reckons Rangers need to treat each of their 13 remaining Premiership games like an Old Firm battle if they are to save their European ambitions.
The stand-in boss fumed at his players on Sunday as they suffered their first away defeat to Dundee in a quarter of a century.
He labelled their performance at Dens Park "unacceptable" and accused the Light Blues line-up of failing to match the Dark Blues' physicality.
The 2-1 loss to Paul Hartley's side means Gers have now dropped six points back from Aberdeen in the race for second.
With Hearts and St Johnstone closing in from behind, the Ibrox faithful are now facing up to the growing risk that their side will not claim one of three potential Europa League slots available.
Murty expects Rangers to put on a display of resistance when they travel to Celtic Park next month to face Brendan Rodgers' rampant leaders.
But the former Reading defender believes it will take another dozen fired-up showings if they are to avoid a nightmare finish.
Murty - who Press Association Sport understands will still be in charge when the Ibrox men travel to Inverness on Friday night - told RangersTV: "I can't talk about anything before this game (against Dundee), but whenever Rangers run into town there's an expectation and there is an intensity that goes up from the opposition.
"I would suggest that it's very similar to when Celtic came to us before New Year, in the fact of the way we started the game. We got right in their faces, put them on the back foot and really took the game to them. I thought it was an excellent start.
"We need to match that intensity when we are playing other teams and actually impose our intensity upon them rather than accepting what they are going to give us.
"I can't see it anything but the same when we go to Inverness. They are going to be in our faces, they are going to look at us and say 'we've an opportunity to upset people'.
"Playing for Rangers you have to accept that, you have to actually relish the fact that they are going to come and give us it and then say 'right, fine, we're still going to play, we're still going to be brave and we're going to match everything you've got and we're going to be better than you'.
"That goes across age groups, across teams and particularly at the point of the spear with the first team, you have to actually accept that and that's just par for the course.
"So when you walk onto the football pitch be in no doubt that is what they are going to bring, you have to be ready, you have to be mentally ready and physically ready and be brave enough to execute the game plan as well."
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