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Mon 18 December 2017 14:40, UK

Rangers interim boss Graeme Murty apologised to fans after the Gers capitulated against St. Johnstone and threw away their four-game winning streak on Saturday.

The Ibrox giants took the lead before conceding three times – each the result of poor defending – to Tommy Wright’s side in the 3-1 defeat.

The result leaves the Gers third in the Scottish Premiership behind Celtic and Aberdeen with only two games to go before the winter break.

The 43-year-old senior man insisted there was “no excuse” for his side’s abject showing as they blew the chance to close the lead to Celtic to only two points ahead of the Old Firm clash at the end of the month.

“I’d like to apologise to everyone who came expecting a better performance than we gave,” Murty said, as quoted by the club’s official website.

“For the last four games the lads have managed to reach a level, maybe not technically but intensity wise, that we didn’t see today [Saturday].

“We have put a lot into the last four games and we didn’t get to where we needed to today and there is no excuse.

“I am the interim manager, I think they know that isn’t the level they are required to play at and it was possibly a reality check for them.

“It is a reality check for me in terms of where we are and where I am on my journey.”

Murty has won six of his nine games in charge since replacing Pedro Caixinha on a temporary basis in October.

The former Scotland international is expected to remain in the hotseat until the winter break at the earliest as the Ibrox board continue their search for Caixinha’s successor.

The Gers face Kilmarnock this weekend before a trip to Celtic Park to take of their Old Firm rivals Celtic in their final game of 2017.

Murty also took the reins earlier this year after Mark Warburton’s surprise resignation in February left the Gers managerless.

In other Rangers news, Jim Duffy has urged the Gers to appoint this 59-year-old as soon as possible.