THE meetings two previous between Rangers and Ross County have rather summed up the problems which have plagued Mark Warburton’s team this season.

When the Highlanders visited Ibrox for the very first time it ended in a 0-0 draw. The home side had more possession but coughed up better goal-scoring opportunities, especially in the second-half.

Then when they met in Dingwall, Rangers took the lead and played some really good stuff. They missed too many chances, didn’t defend a corner properly, County got an equaliser and then could/should have gone on to win the game.

Would it be a surprise if Jim McIntyre’s men came away from today’s match with at least a point? Of course not because even on their better than average days, this Rangers team are in the habit of allowing any opponent one, two, three or more shots at goal.

All four of Hearts goals during the week were easily avoided, taking nothing away from the victors, and while Ross County have had a disappointing season given what happened last time, they will know that opportunities will come.

“We don’t mean to make mistakes and that’s the whole learning curve of football,” said James Tavernier the Rangers right-back who does always seem to have an error in him.

“You’re always trying to improve and being a better player and we always say we win together and lose together. It’s disappointing to send the fans home unhappy and we were all devastated when we got into the dressing room after the Hearts game.

“We’ve looked back at the game and found ways to improve ourselves. Most of the time it’s not always the same mistake over and over again, so we just have to learn together and be better for it.”

Not the same mistakes? Erm, yes they are and the supporters are not blind to this fact.

Crosses not being stopped or defender properly, the back four trying but failing to play out from the back, needless free-kicks conceded and players out of position and therefore not doing their job.

And repeat.

“This season has been different compared to last season where we dominated most of the teams but now there’s a little bit more quality where they can punish you in this league,” admitted Tavernier.

“Obviously some teams are still defending with ten men and they do have better players defending with ten men, so it’s harder to break teams down. But we’ve shown signs where we can break them down later in games.

“On the flip-side again you have teams that can score against you with a slight chance in this league, so it’s an improved league but I feel with the group of lads we’ve got we can go on another good run now until we play one of the big ones.”

As for Ross County, he may curse his side’s inconsistency this season, but manager McIntyre can count on one attribute almost like clockwork – the team’s capacity to react positively to adversity.

The Dingwall club’s manager has been exasperated by the way simple errors of judgement have cost his team valuable points, with Tuesday’s loss at home to Motherwell the latest glaring example.

“We’ve had some good results against the bigger sides over the last couple of seasons and we’re going to need that again,” said McIntyre. “The one thing we can always guarantee from these players is a response.

“You look at your team individually for each game. Obviously when you’ve lost two games in a row there’s a good possibility there might be changes to the team, that’s just the way football is.

“But we’ve got good players here – players who are playing really well for periods of the game but then maybe making a really poor decision that’s costing a goal. All I’m looking for is to learn from that and to make sure they aren’t letting it happen again.”