Russell Martin and Brendan Rodgers react after Rangers and Celtic Old Firm derby ends in draw

Both sides entered the clash on the back of Champions League elimination earlier in the week.

Martin’s side were humiliated 6-0 by Belgian team Club Brugge, whereas Rodgers and his Celtic team lost on penalties to Kairat, who became the second Kazakh team to ever qualify for the competition.

Both Celtic and Rangers failed to score during the midweek, leading to questions being raised on the club’s transfer policy, and it was the creative spark that Rodgers felt his side were lacking in the derby this afternoon.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Rodgers demanded attacking reinforcements: "We want to pad out the squad with more quality, more speed and more creativity. Hopefully, we can do that.

"There's a number of areas we need to freshen up.”

The former Liverpool boss added the context of the fixture and how difficult it is to travel to Rangers: “Ibrox is always a tough place to come, so to not concede a shot on goal is really good.

"My overall feeling is that the game was of low quality. We only had a couple of shots on target, they didn't have any. It wouldn't have been a great watch.

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"Looking at ourselves, we need to be much more creative and find ways to be that.

"I said to the boys at halftime that we need to be much better than that. We're being too direct when we can make that pass to get out of trouble.

"I look back to 12 months ago and we were really fast and dynamic and I hope in the next 24 hours we can get the support to the squad that can give us the opportunity to give us that again.

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"It's not disrespectful to the guys here because they need it. Any teams need that.

"We have a lot of work to do but we need the competition in the squad and creativity to take the game to the level we want to."

Martin, on the other hand, was considerably more upbeat than his counterpart, detailing his “pride” in his squad after the disappointment of their midweek fixture.

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"I'm disappointed we didn't win because I thought the guys were great. I was really proud of them,” the Rangers boss said.

"The performance, the desire, the fight - everything we were questioned about in midweek. After a difficult midweek, the response in that sense was amazing.

"We had the most shots in the league before today. It doesn't feel like it at times, but we need to create more.

"Today was about giving us a base to build off, and we need live all the time without the ball and that was so much better.

"If they can do that, the rest will take care of itself - that mentality, that desire.

"There's a lot we can improve on with the ball, but in the circumstances and how the game was this week and how important it was for everyone, I'm proud of them.

"After midweek, the one thing we really had to focus on was defending properly and being way more aggressive against the ball, taking the ball and following the runners, so I was pleased with the guys with that stuff."

The former Southampton boss continued by insisting he felt support from the club, despite his winless league start extending to four games.

He concluded in a similar vein to that of Rodgers, confirming the club were “close to a couple” of new additions.

The end of the transfer window for both sides now could prove to be pivotal.