The 52-year-old hoped the Ibrox faithful appreciated the performance in spite of the result in the narrow defeat to Burnley on Tuesday night.
Rangers boss Mark Warburton has been discussing the club’s friendly with Burnley earlier this week on the club’s website, and the Englishman made a point of emphasising how special and important the support was for the Gers players.
The Scottish giants narrowly lost the match to Scott Arfield’s first half strike on Tuesday evening, but there was plenty to be excited about for the home side, as they faced a team that were in the Premier League last season.
Several of the lineup were making their first ever appearances at Ibrox for Rangers, and Warburton made it clear to the club’s supporters the significant role they can play in any success the team achieve this season.
“It was tremendous, although I’m disappointed we couldn’t give the supporters a victory,” Warburton told the Gers website. “You never want to lose a game of football, but I hope they enjoyed that first half-hour and we gave them a glimpse of what we hope we can do this season.
“The crowd are going to be a huge part of what we do, and hopefully my programme notes and those sort of outlets can be used to let the crowd know both how much they can help us and how much we appreciate them.
“But we have to earn that support, and we do that by playing the game with a good tempo and show good quality. The message to the players is to send the fans home happy.”
Many Rangers fans were pleased to see a different playing style ushered in despite Warburton’s short time in charge, with the home side impressing with a much more expansive approach than has been seen over the last few years.
And Warburton added that he hoped that would be something Gers supporters would continue to see, and would perhaps assure them as they found their feet under the former Brentford boss.
“I hope they can see what we are trying to do and they can see the quality and commitment shown by the players,” he added.
“It can’t be a short-term thing. We have 10 months ahead of us. It’s a long-season, but we have to focus on each and every game and be the best we can be each and every game.”
Rangers have Hibs next up at the weekend, as the season proper kicks off with the Scottish Challenge Cup tie against a club sure to be one of their closest rivals for promotion next season.
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