Rangers boss Mark Warburton says his players showed character

Glasgow: Rangers manager Mark Warburton said his players answered their critics as they moved up to second in the Scottish Premiership with a 2-1 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox.

Warburton and his squad had come in for some fierce criticism following their 2-0 defeat to Hearts in midweek -- victory in an ill-tempered affair over Aberdeen leaves them eight points adrift of bitter historic rivals Celtic.

The former Brentford handler said the players were stung by some of the comments made in the wake of the Hearts loss.

"The players were more than hurt by some comments made about them; comments that questioned their battling qualities and desire," Warburton said.

"But they responded really well and answered a lot of questions today. A lot of nonsense has been written about them and I think they more than answered those questions.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't irked by some of the comments and nonsense written.

"Comments were made about beating teams around us following the match in midweek but the fact is that on Wednesday we had a bad day at the office.

"We didn't come out and say we were unlucky. We were poor, and as players and staff we put our hands up.

"But everyone has bad days at the office and the key thing was how we responded.

"The fact of the matter is winning games of football is the best answer to any argument."

The win moves Rangers above Hearts, who drew 2-2 with Ross County, while they remain eight points behind Celtic following their thrilling 4-3 win over Motherwell at Fir Park. Australian international Tom Rogic grabbed a last minute winner to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

While Warburton was pleased with the victory he thought his side could improve on their performance.

"I think it's a great result for us but I don't think it's the best we've played," said the 54-year-old Englishman.

"I don't think we controlled the football today and the stats will show we had only 50 or 55 per cent of the ball.

"But we did what we had to and we battled and we stepped on. We know the quality Aberdeen possess and we had to be brave.

"They are a very good team but I felt we deserved to win the game of football."