MARTYN Wagorn last night denied the failure of the Rangers board to appoint a new manager is responsible for the dire run of form which is endangering the Ibrox club’s hopes of qualifying for Europe this season.

Waghorn and his team mates were beaten 2-1 by struggling Inverness Caledonian Thistle up in the Highlands on Friday night – the sixth time in seven Ladbrokes Premiership games they have failed to triumph.

Rangers are now nine points behind second-placed Aberdeen in the league table after the Pittodrie club defeated Ross County 1-0 at home on Saturday and would appear to have little chance of finishing runners-up.

In addition, they are only five points ahead of Hearts, who lost 2-0 to Partick Thistle at Firhill the weekend, and six points ahead of St. Johnstone, who slumped to a 2-0 reverse to Kilmarnock at McDiarmid Park.

The Glasgow club, who are playing in the top flight this term for the first time in five seasons, need to finish second or third to make it into the qualifying rounds of the Europa League in the 2017/18 campaign.

Winning the William Hill Scottish Cup or, failing that, coming fourth in the Premiership would also secure their entry into the continental competition - if the cup winners have already qualified for Europe.

Graeme Murty, the under-20 coach, is still in charge of the first team following the departure of Mark Warburton 17 days ago and has revealed he is receiving assistance from an anonymous mentor.

However, Waghorn, who netted a second-half penalty against Inverness, believes the situation Rangers are in is entirely down to the players and has nothing to do with who occupies the dugout.

“It is a frustrating time,” he said. “We have got to get back to the Rangers training ground and work hard. The only way we can get out of this is by working hard, staying together and trying to turn it around. It is only us who can do it. Nobody else is going to do it for us. It is up to us as players to take responsibility.

“The players here are together. Obviously, it is a difficult time not having a full-time manager, but we are still the same squad. Murts knows the direction that we are going in. He has got everyone on board.

“It is up to us as players to take responsibility. We know what we have got to do, it is just a matter of executing it. On the day against Inverness Caledonian Thistle we weren’t good enough in front of goal.

“I can understand people saying we need a manager because we haven’t won games and at Rangers you have got to win games and be going forward. Listen, the last two results are nowhere near the level that we should be at. But, like I say, we need to rally and stick together as a team going forward.

“It is part of football. It is all about how you respond and how you react to adversity. This is a difficult time. It is tough. But I can’t stress this enough, it is only us who can turn it around. We have to work hard on the training pitch and work off it together as a team. Doing it for the club is all that we can do.”

Meanwhile, Waghorn has insisted that Rangers, who take on St. Johnstone in the league at Ibrox on Wednesday evening, can still catch and overtake Aberdeen, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, and finish second in the Premiership this season despite their disappointing form.

“We have got to play Aberdeen again twice,” he said. “It is obviously not ideal them being so far ahead. We have got a big challenge in front of us, but we know what we have got to do.

"It is going to be difficult, but we can turn it around. We have got a lot of good players in the squad and a lot of belief. Never say never. We have got to just go again.”

Rangers gifted Caledonian Thistle the first goal on Friday evening – the fifth time in as many games they have done that - and then squandered several excellent scoring opportunities. Waghorn accepts his side has to sharpen up in both defence and attack if they are to get back to winning ways this week.

“You are playing for Rangers,” he said. “You need to be clinical, you need to score goals and you need to win games and we are not doing that right now. Conceding the first goal is also giving us a tough challenge. It is making our lives difficult.

“Inverness were down there fighting for their lives and they were always going to make it difficult for us to win. It is something that we need to address. If we get the first goal it’s a different story. We have made it difficult for ourselves and that is something that we need to sort out.”