Jack Butland believes Rangers must be prepared to endure two weeks of pain if they are to make amends for Sunday’s defeat at Parkhead.
Despite a good start to the match, Philippe Clement’s team eventually lost 3-0, dropping them to fourth in the Premier League ahead of the international break.
Rangers won’t play a game until they travel to high-flying Dundee United at Tannadice, with Jim Goodwin’s men now one point ahead of them in the table.
But former England goalkeeper Butland believes the fear of a final derby defeat should be used as an incentive to quickly save the title race, with the Ibrox men currently five points behind Celtic and Aberdeen.
“We are in a difficult period now where we don’t have a match for a few weeks,” he said.
‘That’s going to be the tricky part. We’re going to think about it for a long time.
Jack Butland looks anxious during the 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park
Former England international Butland says Rangers must perform better after the break
Butland tries to support his teammates during the Premier League defeat at Parkhead
“We’re going to have days to look back on it. We’re going to have a lot of training sessions between now and the next game. It’s important that we pick them up (the younger players). The next day when we come in, it’s not going to just disappear.
That danger does not exist.
‘It will be something that is still fresh in people’s memories. And it has to be, because it is that important to us and to the club.
So yes, there are things that we can work on, that we can get better at, that we can become more efficient at.
“But I think the belief is there and I hope it at least shows that we are still fighting.”
With construction work at Ibrox delayed and Clement’s men forced to start the season at Hampden, they were knocked out of the Champions League by Dynamo Kiev after dropping points to Hearts on the opening day.
Sunday’s defeat to Celtic, the fifth derby Clement has failed to win, added to the gloom that has surrounded the club since the summer.
Butland, however, hopes the prospect of returning to Ibrox at the end of this month will provide a timely boost.
“It’s not hard to pick yourself up,” he added. “It hurts. It’s not what we want. It’s not what we believe our club is.
‘But the great thing is that hopefully we can get back to Ibrox soon, be with the fans again and hopefully move on and put this behind us.
It’s huge, I think in general, just for the club. I think the fans are desperate for it. We’re desperate for it. But it’s not an excuse. It’s something we have to deal with.
I think we handled it pretty well.
‘We appreciate that fans have adjusted their weekends to come and support us.
Butland looks dejected as his team fail to return to Old Firm competition
Butland takes a shot from the Celtic attack as Rangers come under intense pressure
The goalkeeper was criticised for his positioning as Furuhashi scored Celtic’s second goal
“Hopefully we’ll be back at Ibrox soon. But that’s besides the point. We’re disappointed with Sunday. I hope we showed some things that can give the fans hope.
But we have to improve, because we don’t want these results anymore.
“We have some great games, some great European teams to look forward to. The league is still our main focus, so we still have some work to do. Although there were good signs on Sunday, we have to get better.
And that’s why I’m here. I’m here to try to help that.’
Butland’s line-up, while Kyogo Furuhashi scored Celtic’s second goal, was questioned by some.
“You never enjoy conceding goals. You always look back on everything,” he mused.
‘I looked at my position on the second one.
I think I’m in a position that suits the phase we were in the game, namely in possession of the ball.
When I give the ball away, I try to get back to the optimal position I want to be in at that moment.
‘And maybe I haven’t quite gotten back to the level I ideally wanted to reach.’