Graeme Murty has told his Rangers players not to start thinking about Celtic until their cup match against Falkirk is over.

The Glasgow sides meet next Sunday with Rangers having closed the gap to six points, though Celtic have a game in hand.

However, first priority for Murty is securing progress in the Scottish Cup when Falkirk visit Ibrox for their quarter-final.

"There's anticipation with every Old Firm game but we have a really big game on Sunday that we need to take care of first," he said.

"So any players that are looking towards that next game (with Celtic) will get short shrift from me because that would be disrespectful to our next opponents.

"I know our fans are looking to the Celtic game, I know it's looming large on the horizon.

"But let's take care of the next step, perform properly on Sunday and then we can give our full attention and our full drive and power to the game after that."

Rangers go into the tie on a strong run of form, having won five straight games for the first time in nearly two years. Murty said he was impressed with recent performances but wants something tangible to show for it at the end of the season.

"When you look at the standards set at this club down the years we are striving to be up at that level - but we're not there yet," he said.

"Five games in a row is good and we want to praise the guys for it - but we have to continue on.

"It will mean nothing if we take our foot off the gas. We want to accelerate from here.

"The over-riding message to the players and the fans is, 'We're not what we need to be'. We're on the right path but we can get better and we will get better.

"This group of players, as they understand each other more, can improve their levels and show even more control in games. I still think we're just at the outset of our journey."