We need more oomph in front of goal, admits McAllister

GARY McALLISTER last night urged Rangers to show more devilment and hunger in front of goal.

The champions dropped their first league points at home for 18 months in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Motherwell. Despite creating a raft of chances, the Ibrox side were unable to add to striker Fashion Sakala’s first competitive goal for the club.

And Rangers assistant manager McAllister has called for more ‘oomph’ in front of goal when Livingston travel to Ibrox for tonight’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final clash. ‘I think you’d agree we bossed most of the (Motherwell) game and had more possession,’ he said. ‘Trying to pick some positives from the game, I thought first half we played some really exciting football that was good on the eye.

‘But I think we need to have a wee bit more devilment in our finishing and a wee bit more oomph and wee bit more belief. ‘Leading up to getting 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.’ Despite ending Celtic’s dominance in the league, Steven Gerrard has yet to lift a trophy at Hampden in a domestic cup final. With one trophy from nine in the last three seasons, McAllister (right) insists Rangers will treat the League Cup with reverence and respect. ‘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 obviously getting back there for a cup final.

‘It’s an early end to a cup competition with a December final. It’s such a big game for us and we’ve been really diligent in our preparations for this one. ‘People have this observation that it might be the least of your priorities but it’s not the case. ‘We want to continue the way this club has with winning things down the years. ‘It would be nice (to win it) but first and foremost we’ve got to win this and get to Hampden for the semi.’

Ianis Hagi and Nathan Patterson come into contention for a first-team return after overcoming Covid and injury issues. Ryan Kent and Ryan Jack are still out, with Gerrard facing a decision on whether to stick with central defender Jack Simpson or recall Leon Balogun after the defensive lapses of recent weeks. ‘It’s fine detail and I think that’s the thing we’ve been pressing home, not just to the back line but all over the pitch, as we start defending from the front,’ said McAllister.

‘We’re getting caught by sucker punches on little lapses, I feel, of concentration. ‘If you’d said at the start of the season we’d be sitting in this position where we are today, we’d probably have taken it. ‘But us being where we are and the standards we set — I know the players would agree with me as well — we feel we should have a few more points. ‘But it can’t be that bad. We’re top of the league and we’ve got the chance to get to a semi-final.’