Rangers were dumped out of the Champions League at the first hurdle last night as they lost out to Swedish champions Malmo.

The Light Blues went down 2-1 at Ibrox to lose 4-2 on aggregate.

Gers boss Steven Gerrard addressed the media afterwards and our writer Derek Clark gives his thoughts on what was said.

Gerrard on relying on his key men in the dressing room helping them emerge from their poor run:

“100 per cent. We have got strong leaders in the dressing room. I trust them a lot. I will speak to them in the coming days and, yes, they have got a big responsibility to reset and go again.

“Every manager is the same. But that is also the case when you are on winning runs, you want your senior players to maintain the standards and keep going and try and maintain the level of consistency.

“It is not a case of just waiting for a defeat or a bad week and then you turn to your senior players, you have got to have that relationship with them all the time.

“Now our supporters need them a lot to try to flip the form and the mood of the place.”

There's no doubt Gerrard will be asking for more from the likes of James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Steven Davis and Allan McGregor to help put this latest poor run of form behind them but it’s not as simple as that.

The manager asked six or seven of his players to raise their levels following the first leg defeat to Malmo and, on the face of it, they’ve ultimately failed to do so.

He’ll no doubt be asking himself, ‘Why am I not getting the reaction I want out of these players?’

Rangers do have a good record of bouncing back from adversity under the manager but this is the first time he’s encountered three defeats on the bounce.

Now, more than never, he needs his leaders to stand up and be counted.

READ MORE: Rangers need to go back to basics with Connor Goldson and Filip Helander

Gerrard on their poor start to the season:

“Look, the last week hasn’t gone to plan. We have underachieved in this competition over both legs, there is no getting away from that. It is still very early days in terms of domestic competition, two competitions haven’t started and we are two games into the other.

“I think there will be a bit of panic on the outside, and a bit of noise and a bit of criticism. That is the reality, that is the way it is.

“We have to accept that. In terms of me and my staff, we certainly won’t be because we have got a lot of belief in this group.

“We will try to get our better players and our players who are capable of performing very high at this level back into the pitch, into the team, in a better place and I am sure our form will turn.”

These are words you would expect to hear from Gerrard. It’s clear they haven’t started the season well and there could be multiple reasons why.

He has missed Glen Kamara and Kemar Roofe for the two Malmo ties, there’s no doubt about it, as well as not having Alfredo Morelos available in the first leg.

The likes of John Lundstram and Fashion Sakala haven’t set the heather alight just yet, but again, it’s very early in the season.

Perhaps they were simply caught cold by a Malmo side well into their season, although the defeat at Tannadice would suggest a possible hangover from winning 55.

Gerrard on the need to get back to winning ways:

“We wanted to try and qualify in this competition. It was a priority and we have underachieved over both legs. To concede four goals and perform in the second half last week, the second half on Tuesday night, we haven’t been good enough.

“First and foremost we need to get over that, we need to pick ourselves up and react from that domestically in the cup on Friday night.

“And then, going into the Europa League play-off, we have to be better. The reality is, to qualify and be part of Europe, which is important for the club, over two legs you need to perform for two 90 minutes, not just two 45 minutes.

“We need to change things in the coming weeks.”

The Dunfermline match is absolutely huge now for Gerrard and his backroom team.

He needs a win, not only to arrest this current slide of form but because the cup competitions are vitally important for the club this season. Gerrard has said himself that their record in both the League Cup and Scottish Cup isn’t good enough, and he’s right.

Failure to beat lower league opposition on Friday night and the pressure will intensify tenfold.

As for looking ahead to the Europa League playoff, it’s important Rangers get back to focussing on one a game at a time, it’s clear they had one eye on Malmo at Tannadice on Saturday and came a cropper. They can’t afford to do likewise here.

READ MORE: Rangers see lightning strike twice as defensive calamity skewers Champions League dream

On potential changes for Friday night, Gerrard said:

“That is my job, that is what I need to do. Pick the players up, reset and really think about what the right team is to play on Friday with the game being close to this game.

“That is what we will do. We haven’t had a good week, we have to accept that. We are responsible for it and it is my job to pick the players up and react on Friday night to try and get a positive win so we feel a bit better about ourselves.

“There won’t be drastic changes. I will pick an XI to get the job done to try and move into the next round of that competition.”

He says there won’t be drastic changes but I reckon there should be, based on form.

Of the team that started last night, the only players who deserve their starting berth would be Allan McGregor, Steven Davis and Alfredo Morelos. The others can’t be too surprised if they’re dropped.

But as Gerrard mentioned at the top of his presser, he’s going to call on his leaders to navigate them through this tough period, they have to start delivering starting on Friday.