WInless in five & 11th in Premiership - but Martin says Rangers can still win title

Russell Martin insists confidence among his Rangers players "is the best it has been" since he became head coach, and he still believes they can win the Scottish Premiership title despite their dismal start to the season.

The Ibrox side have won four of their 14 games this term - none of those victories coming in their opening five league matches - and have lost four of the last seven.

Martin's side sit second bottom of the Premiership and suffered a 1-0 home defeat by Genk in Thursday's Europa League opener, having been humiliated by Club Brugge in Champions League qualifying.

And while he concedes they cannot leave it "too much longer" to find their first league win, he insists they can still claw back the nine-point deficit between themselves and leading duo Celtic and Hearts.

Asked where his players confidence levels are, Martin told Sky Sports it was "the best it has been" and that the players "are in a good place" despite the Genk loss.

Midfielder Mohamed Diomande was sent off four minutes before the break at Ibrox, with the Belgian visitors taking the lead 10 minutes into the second half.

"The togetherness, the willingness to run for each other, the willingness to take the ball with 10 men, all of that will stand us in good stead," he added.

The head coach stressed that many of his new players were "very young" but were gradually understanding what it means to play for a club like Rangers.

Martin said much had been made about his chat with chairman Andrew Cavanagh and chief executive Patrick Stewart after the latest defeat.

"The media love making out that every one is a big conversation about 'is he going, is he staying'?" he said.

"But, generally, we just chat about what we can improve, about the performance, about the next game. It is always the same.

"We have a good, honest conversation. It was nothing out of the ordinary."

Martin believes a football manager's "job is under threat wherever you work, all the time", but insists he does not listen to the "outside noise" despite calls by many fans for him to be sacked.

Martin, whose side visit Livingston on Sunday, added: "We want to be at the top of the table by the end of the season. If you leave it too much longer, you'll start running out of games. So we have time.

"So we have time to build and win and claw our way back. We have to be really hungry and start to make up the points difference and it has to start on Sunday."