Russell Martin insisted that his criticism of some his Rangers squad following their opening-day draw to Motherwell came from a position of "love and care."

Rangers, who finished 17 points behind rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership last season, started their 2025-26 campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw at Fir Park. 

James Tavernier's 14th-minute opener was cancelled out by Emmanuel Longelo's late finish, with some sections of the visiting support booing Rangers off the pitch. 

After the game, Martin launched a scathing review of his new team, suggesting that some members of his squad had to "drop their ego" and that they had a "mentality problem". 

But ahead of Rangers' first-leg clash against Viktoria Plzen in the third qualifying round for the Champions League, Martin did not back down from his post-match comments. 

"I think if they know us by now as a group of coaching staff, that it all comes from a place of love, really, and care for them," Martin said.

"I don't come out and say that because I want to be ruthless and all that stuff. If they know me as a person, people who do know me, they know it comes from a place of love and to help them, to want them to be better.

"So I think when you come from that place, whatever is said, if they understand that, then we always have a really honest and good conversation about it, and I think and hope they understand who we are by now and what we're here to do.

"And I really believe they're really trying, and it's just that learned behaviour and that default, and we have to change that a little bit because they're really good human beings.

"So they're good people, but the default is to try and protect yourself when it gets tough, we need to just shift that a little bit."

Martin started his tenure by leading Rangers past Panathinaikos in the previous round of qualifying, earning a 3-1 aggregate victory after a 1-1 draw in the second leg. 

Rangers' triumph has secured a spot in the Europa League proper at the very least this season, though Martin said he wanted his players to "attack" the Champions League to seal a return to Europe's elite competition for the first time since 2022-23. 

Plzen sealed their progression to this round stage after producing a stunning second-leg comeback to win 3-2 on aggregate against Servette. 

A play-off tie against RB Salzburg or Club Brugge awaits the winners, though Martin acknowledged the difficulty his team will face against the Czech side over the two legs. 

"The game is going to be tough. They are really powerful, really strong, play forward quickly, run forward quickly," Martin added. 

"It's a really different test to the Panathinaikos one, and it is a really interesting and exciting one for us.

"They have strength in certain areas, but we have to try and turn the game, especially at Ibrox, into the game that we want, move the ball quickly, better than we did the other day.

"We have to really be up for the fight against these guys, but I am looking forward to it."