Lee Wallace positive that Rangers will respond to Ibrox draw

Mark Warburton and Lee Wallace at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow

Lee Wallace insists that his message to team-mates was positive after Rangers dropped their first points at home in the league to Morton.

The squad held a clear-the-air session in the dressing room following Saturday's 2-2 draw.

As captain, Wallace was one of the senior players to address the team, but the left-back did not resort to anger or recriminations.

"It was more of a chat on how we can be better," Wallace explained.

Rangers maintained their three-point lead at the top of the Championship, with nearest rivals Hibernian held 1-1 draw by third-placed Falkirk.

It was the nature of the performance against Morton that left the hosts frustrated, with Morton recovering from conceding a goal inside two minutes to take the lead with six minutes left.

Manager Mark Waburton and midfielder Andy Halliday both made reference to a dressing room airing of views and Wallace revealed that players are encouraged to analyse performances and provide feedback.

"It was more of a coached speech at the end, not just from the gaffer but from myself, Kenny Miller, Rob Kiernan and a couple of the senior boys," Wallace said.

"The manager's style has never been to rant and rave. The way I'll try to captain the squad will be the same.

"It was about the one per cents we can do on a day-to-day basis, being a 24-hour professional even when you're away from the club, making sure we don't get complacent, reiterating the fact that we appreciate what we have at the club.

"We were below our standards. That's the feedback the players gave. We're a very honest group."

Rangers needed a late goal to salvage a draw on Saturday

Wallace was speaking as the Rangers squad paid a Christmas visit to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.

Falkirk and Hibs are up next but Wallace stresses that the Championship leaders will not treat the fixtures any differently, or feel any more pressure ahead of them.

"It's just another time that we take to the pitch," he said. "This week is the next time we can try to make amends for the two points dropped at the weekend.

"I don't think the enormity is in the opponent but that we need to try to get back being the best Rangers we can be. We've tailed off that in recent weeks, albeit we were just off the back of two 4-0 wins when we were getting our swagger back again.

"We know the expectancy, we know the flak that we come in for. The only way to beat that is performing, by training hard and by making sure we're best prepared."

Wallace also spoke of his "devastation and shock" at learning of the sudden death of his former Ibrox team-mate Arnold Peralta, who was shot dead in Honduras last week.

"Speaking on behalf of the Rangers players, the fans, everybody involved at the club, we're devastated and send out all of our thoughts at this dark time to Arnold's family," he said.