Barry Ferguson is convinced that a lengthy heart-to-heart with his players will see a different Rangers side turn up against Athletic Bilbao and for the remainder of the season.

Angered with the meek performance he witnessed on Saturday in the home defeat to Hibs, the interim manager vowed to make personnel changes when the Basques visit for the first leg of Europa League quarter-final.

While Ferguson refused to divulge which individuals – if any – would now find themselves on the sidelines, he confidently predicted that those who are selected will be unrecognisable from those who have now suffered five successive home losses.

‘We got in on Monday morning and, let’s just say, we had a long, long chat.

‘I aired my views, so did my staff and so did the players which I was happy with.

Interim manager Barry Ferguson believes his players can put inconsistency behind them

Rangers players train ahead of Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final against Bilbao

‘As I’ve said before, I think we’ve been too quiet.

‘So, it was good. And then we got to training on Monday, obviously, to prepare for this game.’

Pressed on what he heard from his players to encourage him to believe that a corner had now been turned, Ferguson added: ‘I would rather keep it in-house.

‘But I just thought the time was right to go and spend a bit of time with them and go through a lot of things that I’m clear that I wasn’t happy with. And it’s good to get their point of view as well.

‘We really need to get to the bottom of it (inconsistency), because it’s been a real issue. But I came out of the meeting, training was bubbly on Monday. That’s what I want.

‘I don’t want anybody moping about and being unhappy.

‘There was a lot of things said. Then we had a good training session on Tuesday.

‘We’re totally clear on what way we’re going to approach the rest of the season and not just tomorrow night.

‘Then today’s session, again, I come away from, really happy with.

‘Now, hopefully, going forward, I’ll start to see a bit more consistency because that’s something that we’ve certainly not showed over the season.

‘We’ve done it and played really well in some games. But in other games, it’s just been a totally different team.’

Barry Ferguson gets involved at Rangers training ahead of the Bilbao match

Keeper Jack Butland was again at fault as Hibs opened the scoring through Dylan Levitt.

Despite mounting speculation that the former England keeper would be axed in favour on Liam Kelly, Ferguson kept his cards close to his chest.

‘I’m not going to say whether I’ve had a conversation with Jack or any other player. You’ll just need to find out,’ he stated.

‘I’m not going to sit up here and tell you this is who I’m going to play and this is the formation I’m going to play. I’d be crazy to do that.

‘What I will do is I’ll make a decision based on what I think is right for us to get a positive result.

‘In terms of players making mistakes and players maybe underperforming, that’s part and parcel of football.

‘It’s tough at times. Look, I’ve been through many stages myself and there are a few players who may not be playing at the level that they would want and that I would expect.

‘But, in terms of changes, I’m not going to sit here and tell you what’s going to be happening.’

Ferguson will have to select his team without John Souttar and Mohamed Diomande, though, with the pair suspended for the first leg.

Having sat out the Hibs’ loss, defender Leon Balogun is poised to come in with the veteran defender also convinced that the clear-the-air meeting will have the desired effect.

Jack Butland could lose his place after blundering in the 2-0 league loss to Hibs

‘I think it was just a very straightforward and honest conversation, which needed to be held,’ he said.

‘Because we all know that recent performances, domestically especially, haven’t been good enough. 

‘I mean, if you lose five on the spin at Ibrox, at this club, it’s not something you should be able to accept.

‘So, yeah, it was very open, no filter, but with a very positive outcome.’

Rangers’ progress in Europe has been in sharp contrast to their woeful domestic form.

Balogun admits he’s struggling to provide an answer to anyone asking why there’s been such a disparity in performances on both stages.

‘I can’t, to be very honest,’ he added. ‘If we could, then we would have fixed it by now.

‘What hurts a bit is that you hear that people are saying that we only turn up for those big games, and at the moment there’s some truth in it, and that must hurt every single one of us.

‘And again, it comes down to turning things around. But then again, it’s probably not tomorrow’s game where we can prove that, but it’s the domestic games, like last weekend, where we have to show that.’