DAVID TEMPLETON has insisted that Rangers won't come unstuck on an artificial pitch again in their League Cup meeting with Falkirk tomorrow night.

Templeton and his out-of-sorts Gers team-mates looked highly uncomfortable on the astroturf at the Indodrill Stadium against Alloa on Saturday.

Ally McCoist's men ended up crashing to a 1-1 draw to the part-timers and allowing Hearts to move three points clear at the top of the SPFL Championship table.

The Ibrox club will take on second-tier rivals Falkirk on another synthetic surface in the third round of the League Cup at Westfield tomorrow night.

But Templeton, who netted a late equaliser after coming off the bench at the weekend, is confident they will perform far better at the Falkirk Stadium.

He said: "We definitely can't afford to play like we did against Alloa in the league on Saturday when we take on Falkirk in the League Cup tomorrow night.

"We won't be able to play like we did and get a result. But I am sure we will see a reaction to the Alloa game and a far better performance.

"The surface at the weekend was really hard. We had to try and adapt to playing on it and I don't think that we managed to do that very successfully.

"Falkirk also play on an artificial surface, but it is a lot better than Alloa's pitch. It was just installed last year and you can definitely tell that when you play on it.

"We played Falkirk in the Scottish Cup last season and beat them 2-0. It was fine. We had no problems with it whatsoever.

"The Alloa pitch is one of the older ones and it shows. They had it when I was a player at Stenhousemuir - that was seven years ago now.

"The ball got held up on the Alloa pitch at times. It was unpredictable. That made it difficult for me to run at players and play my natural game.

"At Falkirk we should be able to get the ball down and pass it far more than we did against Alloa, and we should be able to play better as a result."

Rangers have got an extensive injury list heading into the cup encounter with Falkirk with doubts over several key players.

Fraser Aird, Nicky Clark and Lewis Macleod all limped off the plastic pitch in Alloa with knocks, to join Cammy Bell and Kenny Miller on the treatment table.

However, Templeton, who came on for Macleod on Saturday, has vowed to show manager McCoist he deserves an extended run in the team if he is handed a start.

He said: "I was disappointed not to get in the side at the weekend, but it is down to me to play well enough to be given a place. I had obviously not done that.

"But I felt that that I did alright at the weekend after I came on and hopefully the manager will now give me a run in his side.

"Everybody in the squad will get their chance over the course of a campaign. It is down to each player to take the opportunity when he does. Hopefully I can do that."