SPL: Advocaat committed to Gers

Rangers manager Dick Advocaat insists he will not walk away from Ibrox before the end of the season but left a question mark hanging over his future beyond then.

The Dutchman is remaining tight-lipped over whether he will extend his contract once the deal expires in the summer and will make an announcement on that issue next month.

Celtic extended their lead over Rangers at the top of the table to 10 points following their 2-1 win at Parkhead on Sunday the fifth Old Firm game Rangers have lost in a row.

Advocaat is one of the favourites to take over the Holland job, a position he held during the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

But he insists neither that speculation nor Rangers poor form will prompt him to leave the Govan club before the end of the season.

He said: ‘‘The position is quite clear I will definitely stay until the end of the season and, for the rest, you will have to wait.

‘‘I have given an answer on my future so I don’t want to keep going on about that.’’

Although Rangers’ chances of stopping Celtic winning the league have been reduced dramatically since Sunday, Advocaat still believes there is a chance they can catch their city rivals.

Both teams meet twice again this season and Advocaat is relying on taking points from those games to get his own side’s title charge back on track.

And he has warned his players they must not give up hope of clinching the title either.

He added: ‘‘It is always the same story in this country if you lose then the mood is not good and if you win everyone is happy.

‘‘We are 10 points behind Celtic but we also know that anything is possible.

‘‘If they lose one game it is only seven points. We have to play two games against them.

‘‘We are still involved in the league and in the cup competition so everything is open that’s what we told the players this morning.

‘‘There is no reason to say that it is over because it is still alive.’’

Rangers head to Ross County for the quarter-final of the CIS Insurance Cup and with Michael Ball retaining his place.

His heated exchange with Advocaat, following his substitution at Parkhead on Sunday, was caught on TV before he stormed down the tunnel.

But, although the Ibrox boss has fined the former Everton defender £10,000 for his outburst, he insists Ball still has a future at Rangers.

He said: ‘‘This morning I spoke with him and we have given him a fine of £10,000 and we will give that to Cash for Kids.

‘‘He will be involved again with the football. He said ‘I did something wrong’ and he realises that.

‘‘That’s the reason we gave him the fine and he understands that - probably he realised too late what he did. I discussed it with him, he got a fine and it’s over now.’’

Advocaat has injury doubts over Arthur Numan, Fernando Ricksen and Neil McCann for the trip to Dingwall.

But he insists he will still field a strong side against the First Division club in a bid to go all the way in the competition.

He said: ‘‘I will make some changes to the squad but not that many because we want to be in the final for the competition.

‘‘This game is like a cup final for them and we realise that.’’