WITH Livingston heading to Ibrox in the League Cup quarter-final tomorrow night, Rangers assistant Gary McAllister was on press conference duties looking ahead to the clash.

A place at Hampden is up for grabs for the winner and McAllister is determined to improve on the club’s poor cup exploits in recent seasons.

Derek Clark assesses what was said and what it means for the match ahead.

McAllister on importance of cup success

“It’s massive. I’ve really got to emphasise the point that this is a really big game for us against Livi with the incentive of getting to Hampden and then obviously getting back there for a cup final.

“It’s an early end to a cup competition as well with a December final so it’s such a big game for us.

“We’ve been very diligent in our preparation for this one.”

McAllister made it very clear they’re not treating this game lightly and neither should they considering their recent cup form.

It’s vital Rangers improve on their record going forward, as much as last season was all about 55, it really should’ve been a treble-winning year. The Light Blues came a cropper against St Mirren at this stage of the competition last term and know they cannot afford a repeat performance.

McAllister on Motherwell draw

“I think we need to have a bit more devilment in our finishing, a wee bit more oomph so to speak and just a wee bit more belief.

“Leading up to the corners of the box and going into the box I believe we’re playing some decent stuff but there just needs to be that bit more hunger and desire to score.”

This was quite telling from McAllister. It was clear Rangers were guilty of poor decision making and lacking a cutting edge in front of goal on Sunday and he sums up that feeling perfectly.

So often Rangers appear determined to score the perfect goal when sometimes a strike on goal is the better option. It’ll be interesting to see if lessons have been learned heading into Wednesday night.

McAllister on injury update

“Ianis (Hagi) is back and trained, he looked pretty sharp. Ryan Kent will be missing. Patterson has had an ankle issue recently but he trained and looked sharp and will come into contention with a few others.

“Jacko is still missing from the training and he’s still working to get back to fitness.”

A case of good news and slightly frustrating news here. Hagi has been missed in the last few weeks, of that there is no doubt. His creativity, spark and invention are vital to this Rangers team and it’s certainly been something lacking in recent displays. Nathan Patterson returning is also good news, he’s surely a cert to start tomorrow night and hopefully will appear more as the season progresses.

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The comment regarding Ryan Jack will be deflating to many who are crying out for his return to first-team action. The sad reality is until he gets anywhere near fit enough then he cannot be relied upon and by the sound of it, he appears a long way away from being available for selection.

McAllister on defensive fragility

“It’s fine detail and that’s what we’ve been pressing onto, not just the backline but all over the pitch because we start defending from the front but it’s just those little fine details.

“We just feel we’re coming away from the game plan a touch and not following the fine details on the strengths of the opponents.

“So we’ve just to get back and fully concentrated and just take care of the fine details because we’re getting caught by sucker punches on little lapses of concentration.”

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This is interesting. Rangers are losing a lot more goals this season than they did in the previous campaign and it is mistakes and lapses in concentration that are being punished. They appear more vulnerable and that will worry the coaching staff. How do they remedy it? It’s a difficult one but it’ll certainly be an issue being addressed at Auchenhowie.

McAllister on altering the style of play

“When teams come to Ibrox they tend to defend in a very low block and defend in numbers so we’ve got to try and find ways of breaking that down.

“Getting the ball wide to two people whose deliveries are second to none and their stats prove that but we can’t just be a one-trick pony.

“We’ve got to look to go through and maybe over as well.”

One of the main criticisms of this Rangers team lately is the fact there doesn’t appear to be a Plan B. Lyon looked relatively comfortable on Thursday night and Motherwell to an extent in the second half on Sunday so it’s therefore important the coaching staff find different ways of playing to keep the opposition guessing.

It’s interesting to hear McAllister allude to going over the top, perhaps this is something we may see on Wednesday night against a Livingston team who will no doubt sit deep and look to hit on the counter.