Rangers v Dunfermline Athletic: Ally McCoist has no doubts about Nikica Jelavic’s loyalty despite transfer talk

RANGERS manager Ally McCoist has dismissed criticism of Nikica Jelavic’s recent performances and insists the striker has not become distracted by speculation linking him with a January move away from the Scottish champions.

Swansea City and Leicester City have both been credited with an interest in the Croatian international in the forthcoming transfer window when it is generally perceived Rangers’ uncertain financial position will persuade them to accept any credible offer for the player.

McCoist’s side have failed to score in their last two SPL matches, dropping five points in a 0-0 draw at home to St Johnstone and last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock. Jelavic has cut a frustrated figure in both games.

But McCoist has no issues with the 26-year-old’s form or attitude and remains hopeful he will retain the services of his leading goal scorer beyond the end of next month.

“There is no way Nikica’s mind is elsewhere,” said McCoist. “He is one of our most experienced players, a real man and an absolute professional. I would still hang my hat on him every week.

“The fact Nikica didn’t score against St Johnstone or Kilmarnock does not change my opinion of him. I certainly feel he is a striker who will score important goals for us this season.

“Frustration is part and parcel of the game and there are a lot more people in the team frustrated than just Nikica. It is about doing something about it. We should be getting ammunition to the strikers, no matter who is in the team.

“I hope we can keep Nikica and I’m optimistic that we will. As a manager, I have no idea what January will bring in terms of interest in any of our players, but I am optimistic we will keep him.

“I speak to Craig Whyte on a regular basis and we both have opinions on players. The footballing side of things is totally down to me, Craig’s side is running the club. We have had discussions but nothing that would indicate I would have to sell players in January.”

McCoist will demand a greater sense of urgency from his players today as Rangers look to prevent their recent mini-slump from developing into a full blown crisis when they welcome Dunfermline to Ibrox.

As well as attempting to open up a seven-point lead at the top of the SPL, in advance of nearest rivals’ Celtic’s trip to Dundee United tomorrow, McCoist’s side hope to address their often unconvincing home form which has seen six points dropped at Ibrox this season.

“It would be obviously be very helpful to our title hopes if we started to have a better home record,” added McCoist. “Teams who win the league usually perform well at home.

“Until last week at Kilmarnock, our away record was exceptional. But performances at home against St Mirren and St Johnstone have not been ideal.

“The tempo becomes more important at home than it does away from Ibrox. It has to be kept high. We need to put teams under pressure and get the crowd going. Over the last few days in training the tempo has been good and we have to take that with us into a game situation.

“At this stage of the season, I’m not sure it’s important that we are playing a day before Celtic. I think that only really matters when it comes to the end of the season, and you are reaching the nitty-gritty, that you prefer to play first.

“Our lead has been cut over the last few weeks, but it’s not a massive shock that we have dropped points while Celtic have gone on a bit of a run. We all know these things can happen over the course of a season. They will continue to happen. For us, it’s just a matter of trying to eliminate the problems and slip-ups.

“There is no panic, though. We dropped points against St Johnstone and Kilmarnock. But we have only lost one league game. If somebody had said that we would only lose once by this stage of the season, I would have taken it.”

Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch, meanwhile, insisted the Ibrox squad are unmoved by comments this week from Celtic’s Israeli international Beram Kayal that the Parkhead club have the best squad and best players in the country.

“He is entitled to his opinion,” said McCulloch. “It’s about where you are at the end of the season. I don’t think we’ve had anyone at Rangers talking about how good we are or what we are going to do. We are pretty grounded as a team and the way Walter Smith moulded us was to do our talking on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Dunfermline midfielder Martin Hardie knows what it takes to be an underdog and win at Rangers as he prepares for today’s Ibrox clash.

In a 15-year career in Scottish football, only once has Hardie returned from Govan with victory, in 2006 when St Johnstone, then in the First Division, defeated Rangers in the League Cup. Hardie said: “I’ve beaten them once in a cup game. It was a great feeling to be part of a team which managed to take a scalp as big as Rangers in a cup game. We played exceptionally well that night. It was a fantastic experience to win at Ibrox.”

Defeat at Ibrox is an experience he has experienced often enough as the Pars aim to inflict a second straight SPL loss on the defending champions. “In a league capacity it’s not been great,” he added. “Everybody knows that when you go to Ibrox you’re going to be under sustained pressure and I’m sure that will be the same on Saturday.”