Rabbi Matondo has come to the defence of the Rangers support after they were branded "disappointing" following Sunday's 3-3 home draw with rivals Celtic.

Matondo, 23, struck a dramatic injury time equaliser as Rangers fought back twice to earn a draw in the penultimate Old Firm clash of the Scottish Premiership season. Goals from Daizen Maeda and Matt O'Riley had Celtic firmly in the driving seat at the break, before Gers captain James Tavernier and Abdallah Sima levelled proceedings. 

Celtic striker Adam Idah looked to have won the derby with four minutes remaining until Matondo fired the ball beyond a helpless Joe Hart to claim a point. 

The result kept Rangers within a point of leaders Celtic, and they have a game in hand against Dundee to come. Despite that, boos could be heard ringing out at Ibrox during the 90 minutes and Philippe Clement's men were greeted by disgruntled punters at half-time.

That's something that irked former Manchester United hero Paul Ince, who believes the negative reaction from the Rangers faithful may have impacted the Light Blues’ performance - especially since there were no Celtic fans in the stadium.

"What I would say is I was disappointed with the Rangers fans," Ince told talkSPORT Drive. "I know Celtic scored early doors, but there were no Celtic fans there, it was a massive game. I felt you looked apprehensive because of the crowd, they were booing at half-time, I wasn't best pleased with that personally.

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"I know that when Celtic fans are there, there's more of an atmosphere, but it looked like there was more pressure because it was all Rangers fans, and it looked like you struggled as a team in the first half because of it. As soon as you got the first goal, it ignited; my son Thomas went and said as soon as that goal went in, it was a different atmosphere."

Rangers star Matondo then responded by playing down the fact there were moans and groans throughout the game.

He stated: "They were nervous for the game. Ultimately, they tried to support us, but it's such a big game to them. I guess it was just a bit of tension. It was a freak start in a way, no one expected that. It was wild, so they were probably on the back foot.

"You know what football fans are like, they try and support you all the way, but with the stakes as high as they were, they reacted the way they did. Credit to Tav getting us back into the game, that helped!"