'Frustrated' Martin respects fan protests but insists he has enough support to turn season around

“Frustrated” Rangers boss Russell Martin respects the supporters’ right to protest, but insists a winning run can help unite the club with the fans again and turn the season around.

The under-pressure head-coach is facing calls for his dismissal, just 12 games into the job, after falling to tenth in the Premiership with no wins from his first five league matches.

A protest has been planned at Ibrox before their League Cup quarter-final against Hibernian on Saturday.

And while Martin admits it is a difficult period for everyone at the club, he believes it can make the team stronger if they get through the other side.

The former Southampton boss, who moved to Ibrox in the summer, isn’t taking the fan unrest personally and insists he still has enough backing from within the club to turn it around.

When asked about the protests at his media conference on Friday, Martin said: “It can be a really difficult balance, it hurts professionally because we are working so hard to try and give the supporters what they want, which is a successful team that wins and wins in a certain way.

“So, I am as frustrated as anyone because the results and some of the performances have been really difficult.

“With the fans and protests and stuff, I can’t control that at all, I have to respect it, I have to understand their frustrations and their annoyance, I feel every bit of it as well.

“I think we have an amazing opportunity as a team to come through this period and grow from it and come out stronger for it.

“Then hopefully everyone will come together, we just need to start winning football matches.

“So in regards to the protests, I can’t take it personally because I don’t know any of them and they don’t know me, and they don’t know how hard we are working.

“From the people inside the building I feel incredibly well supported, from the players, the staff and the ownership, and as long as that continues it will be fine.”