Murty leaves players ‘a wee bit angry’ as he cancels Sunday off after 6-0 win

RANGERS caretaker boss Graeme Murty rewarded his players for racking up their biggest win of the season by cancelling their day off.

The Ibrox side thumped Hamilton 6-0 as they booked their place in Sunday’s draw for the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Substitute Joe Garner grabbed a second-half hat-trick while Martyn Waghorn, Jon Toral and Clint Hill also took advantage of some shambolic Accies defending.

But with next Sunday’s Old Firm showdown looming at Celtic Park, Murty is taking nothing for granted and has ordered his players to report to their Auchenhowie training base on Sunday.

With Rangers hoping to announce a replacement for Mark Warburton next week, the Ibrox Under-20s coach may have taken charge of the senior side for the last time.

However, he remains determined to make sure they are as best prepared as they can be for their meeting with Brendan Rodger’s rampant Hoops.

Murty said: “The players are a wee bit angry with me as I’ve told them in they are in tomorrow but you have to deal with it and do the right things.

“We’re making sure we get the working week that we like. So they will be in tomorrow but off Monday. If we’re going to do some work on Tuesday and Wednesday they have to get this game out of their system first.

“They’ve been begging for two days off but it’s more important they are ready to go to work on Tuesday.”

Gers showed a ruthless streak after half-time but they were lucky they still had 11 men by the time Waghorn opened the scoring with his 33rd-minute penalty.

Keeper Wes Foderingham was guilty of clearly handling the ball outside his own box but referee John Beaton failed to spot it.

Accies fury only increased when Grant Gillespie was penalised for tripping Toral in the box for Waghorn’s spot-kick, with the visitors insisting the Spaniard kicked the floor.

Garner replaced Kenny Miller at the interval and scored from close range within two minutes of his introduction.

But he was allowed to play on despite smashing into Hamilton midfielder Dougie Imrie with a crude lunge.

Beaton chose only to flash yellow and salt was rubbed into Accies’ wounds when he went on to score twice in the final three minutes after Toral and Hill had netted from two Barrie McKay corners.

“I’m happy because the players were clinical and took their chances,” added Murty. “It’s great to get a clean sheet and score as many goals as we did.

“Joe has just been in to see how the other guy [Imrie] is. I was worried he was going to get a red card but the referee didn’t give it.

“I’ve looked at it again and it’s more clumsy than malicious. He doesn’t catch Dougie with his foot, it was more his knee or shin. But I can see how that could have looked dangerous and put us into a bad situation. Thankfully it didn’t and we move on.

“But I’m pleased for Joe going forward after his goals. He’s had to be patient but he’s got his reward.

“Wes said his feet were outside but his hands were inside. If he [the ref] says he wasn’t, we would just have had to accept it and move on.”

Hamilton boss Martin Canning was disappointed with Beaton’s display but admitted the heavy defeat was self-inflicted.

He said: “It’s one of those days when nothing has gone for us. The penalty is very soft, if a penalty at all. I thought the tackle from Garner on Imrie was a red while I’ve heard the goalie is a yard outside the box when he grabs the ball.

“It’s always hard coming to these places, but when decisions like that go against you it doesn’t make it any easier. However, that doesn’t excuse our defending.

“We lost three from set-pieces, with another set-piece leading to the penalty and one where we pass straight to the striker to run through on our goal – that’s five goals that are completely avoidable.”