JERMAIN Defoe, the Rangers striker, today admitted that the Ibrox club’s dip in form following the January shutdown has left him mystified.

Defoe and his team mates pulled to within two points of their city rivals Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership table with a 2-1 win at Parkhead at the end of December.

Steven Gerrard’s side, who had a game in hand to play, were widely tipped to depose Neil Lennon’s team as Scottish champions in the aftermath of the derby triumph.

However, Rangers struggled after coming back from their warm-weather training break in January and returning to competitive action. They lost to Hearts, Kilmarnock and Hamilton and were held to draws by Aberdeen and St Johnstone and Celtic pulled 13 points clear.

There were rumours about a bust-up in the Middle East - but former England player Defoe insisted the Glasgow club were in perfect shape to launch a challenge for the title.

"It's natural when you've got so much time on your hands you sit down and reflect," he said. "I can imagine all the players are doing the same thing, not just the manager. You try and reflect on what's gone wrong.

"Before the break, we were flying. We went to Dubai and we worked so hard. Everyone was flying. Training was good, we rested and came back confident that we could kick on.

"For whatever reason, it just didn't happen for us. And now, obviously, all this stuff's happened.”

Speaking to Sky Sports, Defoe added: “We've come back and had meetings - we've got a leadership group with the senior lads.

"We've tried to find answers why we've come back from the break and it's not really happened for us.

"Saying that, we didn't let it affect us. We tried to go into games with that same belief that we could be the same team we were before the break.”

“At the time, it's frustrating because you try to put your finger on what's so different.

"I can imagine the manager and the coaching staff will sit down and look at it to try and find solutions as to how we can improve as a team.

"I always feel like you can improve. There's a great bunch of lads, good characters in the team, a good mix of senior and young lads. We've shown people we can be a top, top team."