BARRY FERGUSON praised the character of his players as they earned a hard fought 3-2 win over Celtic.
Rangers recorded their first win at Parkhead in five years courtesy of goals from Nico Raskin, Mohamed Diomande and Hamza Igamane’s late stunner.
It tops off a superb ten days for the Light Blues after seeing off Fenerbahce to reach the Europa League last eight and win a second Old Firm game of the season.
Ferguson was delighted with the fighting spirit of his players to earn the win, after the home side made it 2-2.
Speaking to RangersTV, he said: “It is a brilliant feeling, I am delighted for the players, everyone involved on the staff and most importantly the 2,500 supporters who were here.
“Hopefully we have sent them home happy and the hundreds of thousands watching on TV.
“I have to give them huge credit, their application was what I want from a football team, mixed in with good football.
“After Thursday and what they put themselves through to produce a performance like that, especially in the first half, I am proud of them.
“We came with a game plan and we thought we could hurt Celtic and we did that. We knew they would have chances and that’s when you need your goalkeeper and defenders to do their jobs.
“The character we showed in the second half when Celtic made it 2-2, I still had every confidence to go and get the third goal. Hamza came up with a beauty.
“We have told them to believe in themselves because I believe in them.
“I believe in all of them and some of them will be disappointed to be left out, but I believe they are all good players, the only thing missing for me was we had to try and help them get out of a sticky situation.
“Changes are tough at times and we have made a few in terms of how we approach games and training but I have to give them credit as they have taken everything on board.
“We won’t get carried away, there are still a lot of improvements to be made. Some of the goals we have lost, we need to do better.
“It won’t happen overnight, you need time on the grass, but they are taking the information in.
“They hold their hands up when they make mistakes and I like that and they are willing to improve and that’s what we are here for.
“I am delighted as there has been so much work gone in over a short period of time, they have come in for some criticism at times, but they have to take the plaudits as over the last ten days they have been excellent.”
Igamane came up with a moment of magic on 88 minutes as his strike found the top corner of the net to send the Rangers supporters wild.
Ferguson was thrilled with the impact of the striker who has earned his first call up from Morocco and believes there is more to come from him.
He added: “We saw his quality and what a goal, that’s what he is capable of.
“He is so technically gifted and he has a lot of other things he needs to work on and we are trying to do that.
“He is going on international duty but if he works on what we think he can improve on, then he can go so far in the game.”