Ex-Rangers striker Mark Hateley believes Giovanni van Bronckhorst needs to get a result against Aberdeen this weekend to prevent calls for him to be sacked.

The Light Blues head into the match at Pittodrie on Saturday off the back of two 4-0 defeats to Celtic and Ajax, and Hateley says the pressure is on van Bronckhorst to turn things around quickly:

“It’s a cut-throat business and when you’re managing at the top clubs – in Scotland Celtic and Rangers – the pressures are there. The demands of fans, boards that determine whether you stay or you go. I think at the moment it’s a crucial game at the weekend at Aberdeen.”

“A lot of pressure on that game – then there’s a Napoli game to come on the Tuesday night which, looking how they played against Liverpool, will be a very, very tough game to get to. First and foremost, they’ve got to digest what happened last night, go through the game with the debrief and then move on to the weekend. That’s what it’s like when you play for an Old Firm side. You are literally one defeat from a crisis. And that’s the way it’s always been.”

Van Bronckhorst tried to blame the loss against Ajax on the lack of financial muscle to compete in the Champions League but that is unlikely to go down well with the board.

Fans are also beginning to lose patience. There is a way to lose games, and the two recent defeats were not only poor because of the results but also due to the performances.

Considering the baulk of this squad got to the Europa League final last campaign, van Bronckhorst knows these players are capable of playing at a much higher level than they are showing at the moment.