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Hamilton Academical vs Rangers. Scottish Premiership.

The HopeCBD StadiumAttendance5,406.

Hamilton Academical 3

  • D Lyon (5th minute)
  • D Templeton (22nd minute)
  • D Imrie (88th minute pen)

Rangers 5

  • J Murphy (10th minute)
  • J Windass (19th minute, 34th minute, 72nd minute)
  • A Morelos (27th minute)

Hamilton Academical v Rangers preview: Graeme Murty delivers rallying cry

Watch live on Sky Sports Football or Main Event from 2pm on Sunday

Graeme Murty is to stay in charge of Rangers for the rest of the year
Image: Graeme Murty has demanded improvements at Rangers ahead of their trip to New Douglas Park

Rangers travel to Hamilton Academical on Sunday afternoon with manager Graeme Murty determined to drive up standards at the Scottish Premiership club so that "outstanding is the norm".

Murty watched with satisfaction as his side racked up five goals in 22 minutes against Ayr on Sunday to secure a place in the William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

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But the Ibrox boss is more excited by their potential for improvement.

"The thrilling part of it isn't that we win games or that we scored goals or had flashes of good stuff, the thrilling part for me is that we can get better," he said.

"We can get cleaner, we can get sharper, we can have a better understanding, we can be more ruthless, we can be more clinical. And I'm saying that as a manager who is quite pleased with the steps that we've made.

"But I'm hungry for us to get better and elevate our level on a daily basis, so that our norms are outstanding.

"And I believe we have the players in the squad who are capable of doing that, it's just challenging them every day to keep them fresh and hungry and for them to challenge one another to make sure that training is at the right level every day.

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"We are getting there, we are moving in the right direction, but we are not where we will be by the end of the season. We will be better than we are now."

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Rangers survived an early scare against Ayr United to cruise into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a thumping 6-1 win at Somerset Park

Rangers sit third in the Ladbrokes Premiership, but Murty has promised fans improvement in the coming months and he feels there is the mentality in his squad to ensure that.

"There's ruthlessness in the squad but we have to make sure it's in everyone," he said. "We want underlying themes and values that are through every single person in the squad. If they don't have it or can't develop it or are unwilling to develop it, then they won't play for the football club.

"But if they do have it and they are driving towards what we want them to be, then they will find endless time from myself and the staff to help them get to where we believe they need to be to push us forward."

Rangers will need to improve on their previous performance against Martin Canning's Hamilton, when they suffered a 2-0 defeat after missing a string of chances.

"We know what Martin will set his team up to do, we know they have a threat," Murty said.

"They came to Ibrox and turned us over 2-0. From us dominating the ball and dominating the game, they created clear chances to score against us. So it's up to us to make sure we deny them those opportunities because if we don't we will be punished."

Team news

Kenny van der Weg and Ross Jenkins may feature for Hamilton after joining the club ahead of the clash.

Meanwhile, David Templeton is back after a recent ban, both Rakish Bingham and Dougie Imrie are expected to start having recovered from injury, but midfield duo Ali Crawford and Darian MacKinnon remain sidelined.

As for the visitors, midfielder Jason Holt is absent through suspension, although experienced Portugal defender Bruno Alves has shaken off a calf injury.

However, despite returning to training, this contest comes too soon for Lee Wallace, while the likes of Graham Dorrans, Ryan Jack, Ross McCrorie and Jordan Rossiter are also all still injured.

Opta stats

Hamilton claimed their first ever Scottish Premiership victory over Rangers when the sides met back in November, courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Ibrox; the Accies had lost 12 of the 13 meetings prior to that victory (D1).

Rangers have won all seven trips to Hamilton in the Scottish Premiership scoring 14 goals and conceding just four in the process.

Hamilton have lost three consecutive Scottish Premiership matches, their worst run in the competition since losing six consecutive games between September and October earlier this season.

Rangers have scored more away goals than any other side in the division (27).

Daniel Candeias has recorded a league-high seven assists in the Scottish Premiership this season.

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