Martin responds to Halliday's Rangers style of play criticism,

• Reacts to Andy Halliday's comments about Rangers' tactical issues
• Provides update on Cyriel Dessers, Hamza Igamane and more
• Discusses the number of shots his side have conceded
• Why an internal conversation reminded him of the task at hand

Q: Could you give us an update on the squad?

A: Dessers is not as bad as first feared. So tomorrow will be too early, but we're really hopeful he can be involved on Tuesday.

Q: Is that welcome news for you, considering the week you've had?

A: I think everyone feared the worst, the way he went off, but there was a small issue, but it's nowhere near as big as it could have been. So it was good. A bit stiff and a bit sore still, but everyone's worked really hard to make sure we give him every chance to be fit for Tuesday.

Q: In terms of the other players?

A: Max [Aarons] will be back in the squad, Hamza [Igamane] in the squad, Thelo [Aasgaard] in the squad, Mikey Moore in the squad. So it's a nice position to be in. We'll see how many minutes they'll get on the pitch, but they'll all be back involved.

Q: What update can you give us on Jefte?

A: The club will update you as and when it becomes something. So he's in this morning. I guess that's all I can give you as the manager right now.

Q: Can you tell us any more about Nobel Mendy?

A: Mendy? He doesn't play for us so I can't tell you anything about him. I've never met the kid, never spoken to him in my life, so I don't really know.

Q: With this game coming just before the big Champions League qualifier, it's a chance for some guys who maybe haven't had as many minutes as they would have liked to be introduced?

A: It's a game we want to win, but it's also a game we have to balance. We've had five games in 14 days. Some of the guys have played a lot of minutes. So it's a chance for some people to get on the pitch, but we'll put a team out that we think will win the game and want to win the game. So I'm looking forward to seeing some of them guys on the pitch.

Q: Of course, last year Rangers went out of the Scottish Cup to Queen's Park, a lower league opposition. Is that something you've brought to the players?

A: Last season has completely gone. Some of them were probably part of that. I don't see any benefit of me bringing that up, really. So no, we focus on this game about being better from Tuesday. I really enjoyed training yesterday. The Tuesday game enables us to actually do some work on the training pitch, which is nice. So I've enjoyed that and I'm looking forward to seeing them carry it out on the pitch.

Q: How much of a chance is it for some of the guys that haven't had as much game time as they'd want this season to come in and give an indication of what they can contribute?

A: We're not going to make 11 changes. So there'll be a chance for some people to play for sure, but there are also some people who need to keep building and keep improving their performance. But yeah, I'm looking forward to some of the guys that will get opportunities, whether it's starting, whether it's coming off the bench, to see what they can bring us and how they can help us.

Q: In terms of Thelo and Mikey Moore, what different dynamic can they add to this side?

A: I think they'll be top players, I really do. So talent, character, courage to take the ball, creative, but really willing to run, physically both very good. So I think they'll help us a lot.

Q: In terms of the competition, that's going to be key just to keep guys on their toes, to know that if they do let their standards drop, there's somebody behind them?

A: This club, we need that. This team, we need that. We need strength in depth and we need strength on the pitch and knowing that we can turn around to the bench and be really strong as well. So I really like the impact of the subs in games so far. That needs to continue and these guys coming back to fitness now will definitely help us.

Q: Has there been much progress in getting guys off the books because the squad is still very bloated?

A: No, I think we're in the same situation really. There are some guys we know their future probably lies away from here, and they are, I'm sure their agents and stuff are working hard on that. But apart from that, I think we're pretty much as is, and that might not change until towards the end of the window when circumstances change and teams need something late on. It often takes far too long. That's what I've been happy with a lot of our business, we've been able to do it quickly and not wait on people going out. So the support of the ownership and Patrick and Kevin has been fantastic. I think that will continue. And then people will go and play elsewhere as and when they want to, and they decide it's right for them.

Q: Hamza Igamane made a big impact in your last two games. Do you hope he can move on and take another step forward this season?

A: Yeah, I'm looking forward to working with him. I think he hasn't been on the training pitch a huge amount. He was back late, then got injured. So now he's coming back again. So I don't think we can expect too much too soon, but he has a lot of talent. It's now fitting that around the other players and the structure and working out how we can best utilise that, I think. And he knows he has to work really, really hard to keep improving, but there is certainly a lot of like raw and natural ability that is really exciting. So we need to harness that in the right way and put it in the right structure of the team. So I'm looking forward to that at some point.

Q: Is it about getting the message right to the group about facing the low block when opposition teams come to Ibrox and sit in?

A: I think teams will do whatever they want to do. I think it'll look different. I don't think everyone's going to come and low block. So tomorrow might look different, well I expect we'll look different to Tuesday. So we have to be ready for everything, we have to be prepared for everything. So as a manager and as a coach, I have to look at my part in the Dundee one and maybe we didn't get enough messages about that. So we've done a lot of work on that since and hopefully we'll see that tomorrow. But we have to first turn the game into that and make sure it is that and then work out ways and find ways to break them down. So it's been good learning. I said this to you guys, we're so early on in the process, everything's going to be about learning. And I have to always look at ourselves first as a coaching staff and really help the players as much as we can. And I think we are really well prepared for tomorrow.

Q: Is the expectation that you spoke about last week that the club should be beating the likes of Dundee and Alloa? Do you think that pressure is maybe having a bit of an effect on the players?

A: No, I think I said to the players, pressure brings opportunity and however it looks, it really does. So you can look at it in two ways. I think there's been an energy around this place for a while that isn't. I'm talking inside, outside, it's just been a lot of disappointment and a lot of frustration and a lot of criticism to the players, to the club. Everyone has an opinion; everyone's entitled to one. So whilst I'm here, whilst we are here, our job is to really focus on what we can affect and what we can impact. And if we do our jobs to the best of our ability in here and focus on the work and being better and having really, really high standards that this club should stand for, then I just don't see how it doesn't go in the right direction. So one of the maintenance guys here this week said, "We're turning a tank around, gaffer, and it will just take some time, but when we get it going..." and I thought it was a perfect analogy. He's a great guy. He was here when I was here before. I don't want to embarrass him, but honestly, when he said that, I was like, "No, you're right." We just qualified for the Champions League [play-off]. I spoke to the staff on Sunday after Dundee because everyone here supports the club and they really feel things. But our job in here is to try and just work and not let the outside noise affect how we work. It just can't. You'll ask me about Andy Halliday's criticism at some point, I am sure, but it can't impact the work we do...

Q: You would have done analysis from the game the other evening. I wondered what your message would have been to the players and what the biggest takeaways would have been from that analysis?

A: There are loads of different ones, but ultimately, it's like we just did too many things sometimes. So if it's right for us, it's always right for us, regardless of the situation. To always run, to always look after the ball. And the frustration was when we watched it back and then the same with the players. I think they felt it as well when we showed them the stuff, is we have opportunities to really hurt the opposition early in the game, and we don't execute well enough. And then we turn the ball over too cheaply. The context of the game, I said to the players, we've been away in Europe twice. So we've won two really tricky ties by scoring two goals and three goals in the first leg at Ibrox with brilliant energy. And then we're going into a team that has nothing to lose. So they're two-nil down and three-nil down, it changes the context of the game a little bit. We've needed more actions early on in them games where we're really clean with the ball and we can hurt the opposition and take a little bit of their energy away. We didn't do it the other night. So I think it's brilliant learning for the players. If we're a bit cleaner in one or two actions with the ball and a bit more in that final execution, the game can be completely different. So I think it's brilliant learning for us. And then you have to take the context of the game into account as well, that we're playing against a team that is leaving four or five players up the pitch all the time. So we have to be prepared for that, because they have to be brave and like I said, they have nothing to lose. So it's been interesting, we learn as much as we possibly can from every game for ourselves as like what the messages were, did we do well enough and the players. I've been really pleased with the players' energy this week because we were all really pleased to get through, because I don't think that can be underestimated. It's not easy this early on. But I think the players were as frustrated as we were with some of the aspects of the performance, which I really loved, because I think their understanding is growing, their belief in what they're doing is growing and at some point it will really pay off for them.

Q: Is it a concern how many shots are being conceded?

A: Yeah, so I got made aware of it this week by the analyst, who then did a really detailed breakdown of it. So over half the shots were from outside the box. The two games that we've really given away too many chances were Panathinaikos and Plzeň. And as I've just said to you, we're playing two teams away from home in Europe, where they're 2-0 down and 3-0 down, so do stuff we haven't usually seen them doing, and committing numbers forward we haven't seen them doing. We can definitely negate and stop that - we are not happy with the number of shots that have been conceded. You also have to have the context of what we're doing, and we will get better and we have to and we will.

Q: Andy Halliday's comments this week... You have your chance to respond.

A: I've just given you a four-minute answer on my response, so cool. Everyone's entitled to an opinion.

Q: You have no issue with him saying it?

A: No, I like Andy. I regard him as a really good ex-teammate and a good person and I like him. So I'm sure at some point we'll have a coffee in the West End and we'll sit down and discuss some. I know he wants to coach at some point. But when you work in the media, you have to give an opinion, right? So I've got absolutely no problem with it at all. Although I have never said we're going to play with inverted full-backs, I have told him that.

Q: How do you build that consistency?

A: I think be really consistent in the process here, be really consistent in our behaviour, be really consistent in what we're asking them to do. And then that consistency will show up on the pitch. I've been in this situation at every club we've been at. This is why I can sit here calmly and tell you what I think is going to happen next. And we just have to trust the work and trust each other. And I've spoken to the players relentlessly about that. And I can see what's coming with them, how they're growing into the culture we're trying to build, how they're adapting to it, and that's why I'm excited about what's going to come.