It was a ‘Get out of jail free’ card played by Rangers and it yet could turn out to be a crucial power play. It’s half-time in Europe’s most glamorous competition and we have managed to claw ourselves back into the tie.

The usual backlash and rubbishing of the team has come on social media, but as I discussed previously here and will get to, everything needs to be in context.

A defeat is never a good result and naturally, there are things we could have done better. We choose this crucial fixture to turn in probably our worst moments in Europe under Gerrard and the goals conceded do concern me massively.

But I’m not having the claims that ‘Goldson is sleeping it in’ or ‘We need millions spent instantly’. Rangers have been ravaged by international duty, injuries and suspensions so far at this season's start.

You take the quality of Balogun, Jack, Aribo, Kamara, Roofe, Morelos out of any team and it's only natural it will not perform to its maximum. Factor in international duty, meaning a lack of pre-season for quite a few, then it’s obvious why we are still getting up to speed.

That said, we have to be better and the manager was right to have a go at quite a few of the starting eleven. Goldson and Tavernier aren’t all of a sudden poor players after making mistakes, but they aren’t undroppable or infallible to criticism.

READ MORE: Rangers players owe Steven Gerrard a performance after Malmo struggle - Derek Clark

We aren’t at the ‘get them sold’ stage, as social media would have you believe, but it is right to point out they were quite a few levels below their optimum output, the mistakes from both uncharacteristic based on last season’s standards.

As for the midfield selection, it didn’t work and we badly missed our options in there. Arfield and Lundstram still look to be lacking match fitness in my opinion, and you could see that in how slow play was. That’s a situation the manager is going to have to sort and hopefully with more options becoming available, we will find that. If I have any complaints, it is that this situation wasn’t changed during the game.

We also lack that presence and danger up front. 

But Sakala is getting up to speed, Morelos and Roofe are unavailable so it’s obvious we won’t look as potent.

Rangers were passive in their play for me, too many touches and that fluency hasn’t quite clicked yet. That is natural with everything above taken into context, but it isn’t acceptable at Rangers as well all know.

What Rangers did do was clear their heads, after a nightmare five minutes, and manage to claw their way back into things.

A lot has been said about the lack of substitutions but when he did make one, it helped make a substantial difference and also helped cement Rangers way back into the tie. We changed shape, we played them into the ground and we kept at it.

It’s extremely easy to criticise but Gerrard has earned the right to be allowed to make his own decisions. As much as it’s easy to say an earlier change may have brought rewards quicker, it may also have further damaged our team which was at that point playing its way back into the game.

We regained a foothold in the game, we kept at it and we got that crucial goal.

There is a lot to be commended about that from a dreadful situation. For those of a certain vintage, at times this had a certain ‘Gothenberg’ feel about it but the difference is this team have a great resilience that’s taken years to build.

Malmo were out on their feet.

Remember, they are dozen or so games in, more than match fit and Rangers still forced players down with cramp. It’s a dangerous thing because they still lead the tie and are in pole position, but we may just have seen them give everything they have while I tend to believe Rangers still have quite a few levels still to go.

It’s going to be a monumental night at Ibrox next Tuesday and the manager was right - we need a full capacity, loud, passionate, Ibrox stadium. Everyone needs to pull together and get this team every bit of support it requires.

READ MORE: Video: Malmo reaction | Steven Gerrard's appeal for Ibrox crowd | Alfredo Morelos

We owe this team and these players every bit of support we can muster, they have enough goodwill in the tank to expect that and as a support we need to try and remember that in the difficult moments.

They also owe it to themselves to get up to speed quickly. We still have it all to do and before then a very difficult trip to Tannadice to negotiate. That brings an opportunity for more match fitness and a chance for fluency in our play to return. The manager was right, we can expect better and we do need more.

It wasn’t perfect but we are just about still in it. Steven Davis has delivered a huge moment which I’m backing us to recover fully from.

The manager has spoken, Ibrox is now on standby and the message has been sent.

It’s time for everyone at Rangers to go up a few levels and get the job done - a huge night at a passionate Ibrox awaits. 

Isn’t it just fitting that it may also coincide with the return of the buffalo? He’s still the main man and he’s still our talisman in this team. His return may just be the catalyst to kick Rangers on the levels we need. Every game is crucial and every game brings an opportunity to kick on again, none more so than this next week.

Let’s be loud, let’s be passionate and let’s all go together at our best, not just Tuesday but every opportunity we have, we spent so long away from the team that we can’t not grasp this opportunity now we are all back.

This is Rangers and while we have it all to do, we absolutely can pull this off.

As someone once said, "Let’s go!"