Winning Old Firm derby not enough, says McCoist

Rangers manager Ally McCoist has told his players they cannot make an Ibrox career out of Old Firm wins alone after they followed victory over Celtic with a shock defeat by Falkirk.

McCoist warned his players about complacency ahead of Wednesday night’s 3-2 Scottish Communities League Cup third-round loss. But his fears were realised when they failed to build on their 4-2 victory over Celtic on Sunday.

McCoist told the Rangers website: “As I’ve said 100 times, the Celtic game is massive but it’s not the be all and end all.

“It’s no use performing out of your skin against them if you can’t do it elsewhere.

“That’s the biggest thing about playing at this football club – you have to be able to do it in every game and we need a good reaction now.”

The holders found themselves two down thanks to Farid El Allagui’s double before fighting back through goals from Dorin Goian and Nikica Jelavic.

But Neil Alexander could not keep out Mark Millar’s injury-time free-kick and McCoist believes Rangers ultimately paid the price for their lacklustre start at the Falkirk Stadium.

McCoist admitted his players could be accused of taking victory for granted. “It’s fair to suggest that might have been the look,” he said. “Absolutely. I’m not sure that was the case but coming off a terrific performance at the weekend against Celtic, we were worried sick this might happen.

“We warned the boys about that before the game but the warning obviously wasn’t taken and we only started realising we were getting knocked out when we went 2-0 down.

“Although we got back into the game at 2-2, we still weren’t good enough. Right now, this is one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had and I’m very angry.

“It was always a possibility we’d go out and because of the way we played in the first hour, absolutely anything was a possibility. If you don’t start the game in the right manner in terms of the tempo and show the application to attack teams, that can always happen.

“We can talk about chances missed and chances created – the fact of the matter is we did not start playing until we went a goal down.”

McCoist, whose team travel to Dunfermline in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League tomorrow, added: “The overriding feeling is we weren’t good enough.

“We’ve been doing well in the league but we lost our discipline completely and went chasing the game far too early. We were passing the ball about and taking too many touches without going forward at a far higher tempo. We were miles short of what is expected at this club.”

Meanwhile, Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre admits he is wary of a Rangers backlash when the champions visit East End Park tomorrow.

“They’ll certainly be disappointed, and any time you lose a game you look for the reaction in the next match.” McIntyre warned.

“They were fabulous last weekend against Celtic and we know when the champions come to town that they have top players.

“We’ll need 11 players on top form to have a chance. That’s not being pessimistic – it’s facts. They have better players than us, but that doesn’t always win you the game.

“We need to make sure we are well organised and disciplined, but at the same time we need to take our chances and try to play with a freedom.

“Every time the fixture list comes out the games you are looking for are Rangers and Celtic.

“You want to test yourself against the best and the players now have the opportunity to do that live on the television. It’s something the players should relish and not be fearful.”