Leon Balogun believes Rangers didn’t earn the right to beat Kilmarnock as he stated the players are feeling the same hurt as the supporters.
Marley Watkins’ 87th minute goal was the difference at Rugby Park, and it’s left Rangers even further behind the leading back in the Scottish Premiership.
Balogun was a second half substitute, replacing Robin Propper in the heart of the Rangers defence. It was his first appearance since a 10 minute cameo against Celtic at the beginning of September.
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Reflecting on his team’s overall performance down in Ayrshire, the 36-year-old acknowledged that they must be better and vowed not to make excuses for the loss.
“The dressing room is quiet and frustrated and rightly so,” he told Rangers TV. “But we've made our bed and now we have to lay in it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry and we are as well. Nobody steps onto the pitch with the thought of a draw or to lose a game but overall I would say it’s quite short.
“You come here, you always know it’s a tough place. That’s not an excuse but they have a good home record for a reason.
“When you come here you have to bring that extra edge when it comes to aggression, maybe being a bit dirty and you have to earn the right to play. I think today we didn't earn that today and while it feels a bit harsh, we can't say it was undeserved.
“It was probably not aggressive enough in the decisive moments, not aggressive or consistent enough throughout those 90 minutes.”
Rangers host FCSB in the Europa League on Thursday night, which Balogun knows gives the Light Blues the perfect opportunity to return to winning ways.
“I mean that’s the good thing,” he explained. “We can make it right on Thursday but we have to take the right lessons out of this today.
“I don’t even want to see it’s a bump in the road because it’s happened too often already this season.
“We are due a performance and we need to make it right. I‘m not going to come here and say big words because the proof is in the pudding; you’ve got to do it on the pitch.
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“If we can’t bring the performance on to the park then someone else is going to stand here on another day and try to make things right.
“We’ve just got to bring what we need to bring to every game and make sure we don’t sleep in moments, make sure we do it consistently over the 90 minutes and show what Rangers is all about.”
