Davis: Gers' financial turmoil affecting results

Rangers captain Steven Davis admits the club's financial problems have had an impact on the pitch.

GettyImagesRangers' Steven Davis trudges off after his side suffered a defeat to Dundee Utd

Ally McCoist's men have lost three out of four matches since going into administration last month.

But the Northern Ireland midfielder knows an Old Firm derby is the perfect opportunity to cheer up the fans amid the most turbulent period in the club's 140-year history.

SPL leaders Celtic visit Ibrox on Sunday as favourites to come out on top but Davis is convinced Rangers can put their troubles behind them.

He told the club's official website: "There's no doubt everything which has been happening off the pitch has affected us mentally on it.

"You've maybe seen that at times but we just need to try to get back to winning ways and this is a good game for us to try to do that in.

"There is going to be a good atmosphere at Ibrox and the match is an opportunity for us to beat our nearest rivals so we'll be giving it our all to get a good result.

"There's such a fine line in these fixtures but we know we can beat Celtic. We'll be at home and we'll be doing our best to come out on top.''

Davis has worn the armband for most of the season and assumed the role of club captain when David Weir left Ibrox in January.

Weeks later the club were put into administration and Davis had to take a lead role in negotiations that saw players take wage cuts of up to 75% in order to prevent widespread redundancies among the squad and general workforce.

"Everything just seemed to go wrong for the club after David Weir left and I replaced him as captain so I'm not sure what that says,'' the 27-year-old said.

"It has been a real learning experience and I've obviously felt the responsibility as captain to try to guide some of the younger players through it all.

"The senior boys have been a big help in terms of the negotiating we've had to do with the administrators but it has been a difficult period.

"When we look back on it, hopefully there are positives we can draw from the experience because there's a real togetherness in our squad.

"At the moment we're just focused on getting the right results and hopefully this weekend we can put a smile on the fans' faces again because they have been great to us."

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