Prior to Rangers’ game against Motherwell on Sunday, Danny Rohl said he didn’t want to focus on “negative” thoughts about the manner in which his side started the previous game against Falkirk.
A couple of hours later, he admitted they had paid the price for a similar first-half display against Motherwell and this time it proved hugely costly, dealing a massive blow to their title prospects.
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Jens Berthel Askou’s side were brilliant, particularly in that first period, but that should not have come as a surprise to Rohl and Rangers and does not excuse how flat they were and seemingly incapable of counteracting the visitors’ slick, pacy play.
Now Rangers require favours from others and certainly cannot afford to lose again. They probably need to go to Tynecastle and win and then avoid defeat at Celtic Park, both of which will be extremely tough, but not impossible.
Celtic have to go to Easter Road before that and both Rangers and Hearts will hope Hibs can take something from that game, and Hearts and Celtic still have to go to Fir Park again, so all is not lost for Rangers.
But Rangers can’t afford to start games the way they did against Falkirk and though they could ultimately have won against Motherwell as well, despite that dreadful first half, they can have no real complaints about the outcome having given themselves so much to do.
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The half-time changes definitely made a difference, with Mohamed Diomande putting in his best performance since coming on at Celtic Park to turn that game in Rangers’ favour.
But the key introduction was that of Mikey Moore, albeit he should have scored. That aside, he once again showed how important he is to the team.
He is clearly not 100% fit, as Rohl alluded to, but if Rangers can’t get him ready to start the upcoming fixtures against Hearts and Celtic, their hopes of getting the results they need will be diminished.
Monday is massive for both sides. It’s going to be another fascinating weekend in the title race.
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