Rangers must 'rectify' tactical errors going forward - but defender claims they'll be mentally ready for Ibrox
Recurring defensive issues have caused concern in the dressing room
Rangers defender Ross McCrorie is confident he and his teammates can ‘rectify’ the mistakes they made in their first two outings - as they prepare for their first competitive match at Ibrox this season.
In both the stalemate away to Dundee United and the defeat in Poland to Jagiellonia Bialystok, the Light Blues have looked far too susceptible to counter attacks. With individual errors added to the mix, the defensive issues are something new boss Derek McInnes needs to address sooner rather than later.
Next up for Rangers is Hibs at home in the league. The majority of the players got the chance to play in front of the Ibrox faithful during the pre-season friendlies, but Sunday afternoon promises to be a different kettle of fish. The draw at Tannadice was underwhelming - but not a disaster, while they still have a chance to turn their European fortunes around in the return leg. However, anything other than three points at home this weekend and it could be alarm bells time.
Rangers ready for Ibrox demands despite poor start
McCrorie is well aware of the Govan demands from his previous spell at the club. He knows that if the mistakes continue to occur and re-occur, the Ibrox faithful won’t hold back in letting their frustrations be heard. Despite that, the full-back is confident his teammates are ready for their competitive home fixture. When asked about the weekend’s fixture, he said via the Rangers Review: “All the boys in there, that's why we joined this club, because every game is massive.
“The demand to win in every game, the pressure… That's why boys want to come here. Because once you get it rocking, it's one of the best clubs in the world to play for. I think as a professional footballer, you take [criticism] with a pinch of salt. You don't really look online at that. A lot of us have played hundreds and hundreds of games, so it's part and parcel of football. Criticism is not going to affect us.”
Light Blues will work to ‘rectify’ recurring mistakes
On the mistakes and defensive issues that were apparent in Poland, McCrorie added: 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 counterattack. 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 tonight 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."