Inside the Rangers dressing room during Russell Martin team talk amid furious fans protest

Thousands of fans gathered outside the main door of Ibrox ahead of the Premier Sports Cup quarter final clash against Hibs

Russell Martin confessed he had his pre-match team-talk drowned out by the deafening din of Saturday’s doorstep demo.

But Bojan Miovski insists the message that got through loud and clear was the need for the besieged Rangers squad to stick together.

Beleaguered boss Martin had a job on his hands to make himself heard above the furious protests taking place right outside the dressing room window as he addressed his men before Saturday evening’s Hibs clash.

Around 1500 seething supporters had gathered on Edmiston Drive to demand the ousting of the manager and chief exec Patrick Stewart following a disastrous opening to the campaign.

There were chants of “Martin, get to f***” while scores of punters held placards bearing the faces of the two men they hold chiefly responsible for the club’s worst league start in almost half a century.

It was exactly the kind of toxic atmosphere that has left so many of Martin’s new recruits quaking in their boots and riddled with anxiety.

But for once, Gers held their nerve as goals from the returning Nico Raskin and Miovski lifted some of the suffocating pressure from Martin’s shoulders.

It was a display that provided some small hope that Martin’s methods might actually be able to work in Glasgow but there remains a long, long way to go before the raging supporters will be anywhere near convinced of that.

But if Rangers are to turn around the scathing opinion of the former Southampton boss, then Miovski insists his team must cling on to the sense of unity they demonstrated for the first time at the weekend.

“We keep it, as a team, in the dressing room,” said the former Aberdeen ace after his side booked their place in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.

“We know that a lot of things are happening outside of the dressing room, but we need to stick together and focus on football and winning football games.

“No [the protests were not distracting]. As a football player, of course, you have this situation. We know how to manage these things.

“We needed to give a good performance to the fans and to win the game. I’m really looking forward to this team's performances. We dominated the game, we pressed really well and we didn't rush this final pass.

“We were a little bit more calm and, of course, we scored that first important goal and after the second, we just stayed together.

“We have a couple of chances in the second half that we can kill the game. But, yeah, overall, we are happy with the performance.”

Martin took his team for an icy dip in Loch Lomond on Monday in a desperate bid to foster some togetherness in the fractured Gers camp.

He’d have known another slip-up against David Gray’s men would have triggered a repeat of last week’s scenes against Hearts, when tempers boiled over at Ibrox.

The team bonding exercise was pounced upon by the 39-year-old’s critics as evidence he hasn’t grasped the seriousness of the position he finds himself in.

What exactly, they asked, was he playing at taking his men a hike up Conic Hill when they should have been working on plugging the huge chasms that have been repeatedly cracked open by opponents?

But Miovski could see the sense in the outdoor excursion - and will have been more than worth it if Saturday’s result proves to be the turning point in Martin’s Rangers reign.

He said: “Yeah, it's always nice to do these things as a team. We always organised them in my previous club, now here in the club we organise team-building.

“Of course, it was nice to stick together as a team and, of course, I enjoyed the swim! It is like an ice bath, so it's the same, you know? We are doing it every day here, so it's normal!

“But of course, we put in a good performance on Saturday and it gives us confidence for the future. We have a lot of new players in the team.

“We got to train together for a full-week for the first time, because I was away with the national team as well, some of the players as well. So, we have a full-week training and we showed on Saturday that we can play good football.”

Raskin was back in the fold after a bust-up with the boss - and back on the scoresheet. And Miovski was delighted to see the Belgian return.

He said: "All players are important, from the first to the last player, even the ones who didn’t play on Saturday. We are a team and, of course, Nico is a top player. He helped us today, he showed his quality.”

Gers return to continental action on Thursday night as they kick off their Europa League campaign at home to Genk - but Miovski is already looking further ahead to next month’s Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.

He said: “Yeah, of course, we feel positive. Of course, it's always nice when you play in Europe. So, we are really looking forward to Thursday.

“And of course we have the semi-final now too to look forward to. I said in the beginning, in this football club you need to win games and trophies. So, we are really looking forward to heading back to Hampden and of course we are striving to win.”

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