Is Martin only winner in one of worst Old Firm derbies?

Zero shots on target, no wins in four Scottish Premiership games and a worst start to a league season in 42 years.

Yet, somehow, Rangers head coach Russell Martin will feel a much-needed lift after one of the worst Old Firm derbies of all time.

Despite Celtic's European disappointment in midweek, many expected Brendan Rodgers' side to respond by ramping up the intense heat on the Ibrox boss.

Instead, the rivals played out a frantic encounter with next to no attacking quality.

Here, BBC Scotland crunches the numbers behind the first goalless Old Firm meeting in eight years and looks at a potential road to recovery for Martin's Rangers.

Rangers (0.15) and Celtic (0.17) ended Sunday's derby with a combined expected goals rating of 0.32. In short, that is bad. Very bad.

In fact, it is the lowest total accumulated in a Premiership game since the xG stat became a thing in the 2019-20 season.

Essentially, that means the quality of chances both sides created amounted to very, very little.

Rangers had no shots on target - the first time they had failed to do so in a league game since an Old Firm derby in January 2021.

Meanwhile, Celtic had just two. At the half-time whistle, Rodgers' side had not even attempted an effort - a first for them in a league match since November 2017.

That also means they are the only Premiership team to fail to register a first-half goal atttempt against Rangers this term.

Motherwell had two, Dundee had three and St Mirren had eight. Even third-tier Alloa Athletic had multiple efforts in the first half of their League Cup defeat at Ibrox earlier this month.

Rodgers' men had played extra-time and penalties in their Champions League exit on Tuesday before a 3,500-mile trip home from Kazakhstan, but that is still a sobering statistic for a Celtic side struggling at the top end of the pitch.

Rangers, however, can take comfort from that given they were a defensive mess in their six-goal defeat away to Club Brugge on Wednesday.

"I was really proud with the response," Martin told BBC Scotland. "Especially the guys who haven't played much recently.

"We need to show that level of togetherness all the time. We've got something to build on."

Martin's side's only win in their last seven games is that League Cup last-16 victory over Alloa - and even in that they conceded twice.

Their four-game winless start in the Premiership this season marks their worst introduction to a league campaign since 1983.

Including their draw away to Hibernian on the final day of last term, their current five-game run without a victory in the league is their worst in the Premiership era (since at least 2013-14).

But, despite all of that, there are crumbs of optimism for Martin to feast on over the course of the upcoming international break.

Another defeat would have turned Ibrox toxic on Sunday and, with the Rangers hierarchy in attendance, it would have become increasingly difficult for them to ignore the fan fury that would have inevitably followed.

Martin took a more organised and disciplined approach, which ultimately earned him a first Premiership clean sheet.

"I'm disappointed we didn't win because I felt we were good for large parts," the Rangers boss added.

"But I'm really proud of the players' level of fight, desire, aggression, all things we questioned inside and outside of the building.

"That was a big focus today, to really fight and show some togetherness and spirit and aggression, and there was so much of that.

"It's an important clean sheet, an important point. We're six points off top, which is frustrating for us, but it gives us something to hunt."

To get on the hunt, Martin will need to massively improve his start of just three wins in 11 games - and quickly.

The Ibrox boss faces a stern schedule, with back-to-back games against Heart of Midlothian and Hibs to come before a Europa League opener with Genk, but Sunday's draw has alleviated some mounting pressure.