Mentality questions ‘answered’

Assistant manager Gary McAllister claims the Rangers players answered questions about their mentality with their dramatic fightback against Braga.

Rangers fought back from two goals down to take a first-leg advantage in the Europa League last 32 after hitting three goals in 15 minutes.

The comeback appeared even less likely on the back of a run which has seen them drop eight Ladbrokes Premiership points since the winter break.

Boss Steven Gerrard admitted his side had failed to handle the pressure during a defeat at Kilmarnock last week and feared he had overestimated his squad’s mentality.

But McAllister feels the players can all take huge confidence from the way they kept going against the in-form Portuguese team.

“The players and all the staff have got to take the confidence from that because the last 25 minutes were very pleasing on the eye, some of the football was great,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s encounter with St Johnstone.

“We were a real threat, very difficult to play against. We broke them down and created chances. Even though Braga were the better side in the first half, we still had three or four good chances.

“Maybe a little bit of confidence comes into play.

“We’ve got a few experienced players who have stood up in recent times, but we have a lot of young players.

“This is the first time they have been asked these sort of questions, playing in front of a very expectant crowd, the pressure of being at Rangers and having to win every game. A draw, two draws is a crisis.

“I would simply say, just look at the last 25 minutes, if you are questioning someone’s character, mentality, and togetherness. I think you saw it was there in abundance at the end of the game.”

However, McAllister admits it is not always so simple transferring their second-half performance into the league.

“If you repeated that level of performance and at the speed we played at in a domestic game then a domestic game should run out easy,” he said.

“But that’s not the case. Every game is different.”