Ross McCrorie believes a win over Hibs on Sunday can kickstart Derek McInnes' Rangers revolution, but he has warned that the sloppy mistakes that cost them in Bialystok must be eradicated.
Rangers were in control against Jagiellonia on Thursday night thanks to an early own goal, but defensive generosity allowed the Polish side to take a 2-1 lead into next week's Ibrox return.
McInnes has failed to win either of his first two competitive games in charge, having also dropped points in an error-strewn Premiership opener at Tannadice. McCrorie, however, is confident that a win over Hibs can provide the momentum they need.
McCrorie: Progress will come
“The progress will come, no doubt. As a whole new team, that's no excuse. We need to start winning. We've got this game coming up at the weekend now. The games are coming thick and fast. But we've got a talented group now,” McCrorie said.
“We just need to fine-tune a few things and it will get us ticking and we'll get the rhythm going. It's all about momentum. We need to try and carry that momentum. But, as a Rangers player, you've got to be confident. You need to have that … not quite arrogance.”
“But it's that quiet confidence about yourselves that you can go out and do the job at the end of the day. But what we need to do is rectify the small mistakes that are killing us. We were too open at times and that's where we need to make sure boys are all on the same page and that cuts these mistakes out.”
Defensive lapses prove costly
Rangers held their early lead for just six minutes as Jagiellonia quickly hit back in sweltering 32-degree conditions. Kajetan Szmyt’s cross-cum-shot bounced through a forest of legs as no one in blue took charge, and Szmyt snatched a second after a horrible pass from Dan Neil and a cruel slip from Manny Fernandez.
“Manny had a slip but that's no excuse,” said McCrorie. “We never quite got the rest defence right in the first half. We were a bit open at times and we never locked it up. So when we were attacking, we should have had the box locked up - we didn’t and they got a counter-attack. We should never be in that position where we've got them recovery runs.”
“We should have boys in the positions to get back and that's something we need to work on as a team. We need to rectify, we need to rectify it quickly because games are coming thick and fast. And we need to tidy it up now with those little mistakes because we haven't quite got the rest defence right.”
“You see we got punished in the first half with a couple - obviously the slip for the boy to get in and the rebound. And then in the first goal as well. It was warm but that's no excuse. Both teams are playing on that. Same pitch, same conditions, that's no excuse.”
