New manager Ally McCoist has been let down by every single Rangers player this season according to Kyle Lafferty. However, the striker hopes that the performance on Sunday in the 3-0 win over Motherwell has gone some way to repair the damage done in the early part of the season. Rangers have managed just two wins from six competitive games before Sunday's visit to Fir Park and Lafferty believes the players should be held responsible rather than the manager. He said: "I don't think he's under pressure. I think every single player in the team has let him down with results where we haven't played well for him. Everyone knows what the gaffer is about. He has worked under Walter Smith for most of his management career. He has learned a lot and he is going to do very well with Rangers."
Rangers took the lead against Maribor before losing 2-1 in the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday. After the game striker Nikica Jelavic confessed that the team was unrecognisable from the one which won the SPL title last term. Lafferty agreed, and went on: "I think Jelavic got it spot-on. No-one wanted to work for the ball and that's not a Rangers side. The Rangers side everyone knows is one that will fight for every ball and keep it and then score goals and keep clean sheets. We didn't do that the other night. But the gaffer had a word with us and what he said was spot-on as well. Everybody went out today wanting to give the gaffer a performance he deserved and we did that."
Lafferty, Steven Naismith and Gregg Wylde were on the scoresheet to secure the win over Motherwell, with the Northern Irishman crediting McCoist's team-talk for the dramatic improvement. He said: "A lot of people knocked us and thought that Motherwell would get a result against us. But the gaffer said the right things in the dressing room and got everyone up for the game and we got a performance. I'm not going to say what he said but what he said got everyone fired up for the game and we went out there and wanted to give him the performance that he deserved and I think we did that. After such a long time out, I was delighted to get my name on the team-sheet and I was over the moon to get the goal. I was pleased we got the three points."
Motherwell manager Stuart McCall said: "We were up against a good side. I tell you what went wrong, when you're up against the Old Firm, you've got to score first to have any chance of winning the game. It's easier said than done and we didn't do that."