St Johnstone 2-1 Rangers: Manager Van Bronckhorst confident despite title race blow
- Published
Van Bronckhorst 'still confident' in his side despite St Johnstone defeat
Giovanni van Bronckhorst insists he's still "confident" to take Rangers forward despite his side sitting seven points off the Premiership title race.
St Johnstone carved out a 2-1 win against the Ibrox side on Sunday off the back of the worst performance in Champions League group history.
"I'm confident. I will keep on working, it's all we can do at the moment," Van Bronckhorst told Sportsound.
"We will stay together and focus on the next game. That's all I can do."
However, the 47-year-old made no effort to hide his chagrin at the result.
Jason Brown's rocket gave St Johnstone a half-time lead, before a cute Nicky Clark finish doubled the advantage at McDiarmid Park. James Tavernier's late strike triggered a cavalry charge, but no equaliser.
"If you don't take any points, you're obviously disappointed. That's my main feeling," said Van Bronckhorst.
"We started the game really well. We started on the front foot and created so many chances in the first 30 minutes but weren't clinical enough to score the first goal. Instead, we conceded and that made it harder.
"In the second half, we tried to get the goal as quickly as possible. Mentally, their second goal was a knock. We had the chance to kill the game off in the first 30 minutes, we didn't do that and it cost us the game."
He added: "I'm happy with the first 30 minutes. The second goal, defending from a throw in, is unacceptable. We didn't have many clear chances because they defended deep and they are very strong in that. We made it more difficult for ourselves by not scoring in the first 30 minutes.
"Losing three points is always damaging, no matter which stage of the season it is. In our last three games, we've dropped five points and that's not acceptable for a club like Rangers."