ALLY McCoist has been heavily criticised and, at times, even derided for having Rangers games postponed during the last year or so.

Fans of all football clubs like to go and see their side in action at three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon - at home especially.

So when a match is switched to a midweek slot, for whatever reason, it tends to annoy supporters.

The logic behind McCoist asking for fixtures to be called off - that three or more of his players are away on international duty - has not been widely accepted.

When the Gers manager last invoked SPFL rule G7 and had last month's scheduled Petrofac Training Cup quarter-final against East Fife put back it upset many.

Centre-backs Bilel Mohsni and Marius Zaliukas were called up by Tunisia and Lithuania respectively. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, placed Dean Shiels on stand-by.

All three men had featured in the first team in the 2014/15 campaign. But not all of them were likely to kick off the last eight tie at New Bayview.

In fact, it was not inconceivable that none of them would play.

Surely, a lot of disgruntled fans asked, the Ibrox club has a strong enough squad to be able to cope with a meeting with part-time opposition from the bottom division without Mohsni, Shiels and Zaliukas?

For followers of other clubs, meanwhile, it was nothing short of laughable that the once-mighty Glasgow giants appeared to be running scared of minnows from Methil.

McCoist will argue that it is his responsibility as manager to put out his strongest possible side on the park irrespective of how lowly the opposition team are.

He will also point to the fact his side has won all four of the games he has had postponed - against Dunfermline, Forfar, Cowdenbeath and East Fife - this season and last.

Yet, whether you approve of his stance in these situations or not is neither here nor there in the case of the Championship match with Alloa at Ibrox this Saturday.

For the club board to decree the match goes ahead without consulting with their manager on the matter is alarming and suggests all is not well in the relationship between the two parties.

Yes, the future of the troubled League One champions remains, despite Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley agreeing to loan them £2million last month, shrouded in uncertainty.

And, yes, playing the game against Alloa this weekend as scheduled will certainly ensure that much-needed revenue comes in to the stricken club as normal.

It should also prevent Championship leaders Hearts pulling further ahead of Rangers at the top of the second tier table ahead of a massive meeting between the two sides at Tynecastle seven days later.

But the decision on the Alloa match going ahead was a football one and should have been taken by Ally McCoist and Ally McCoist alone.

That it was not was a disturbing development and has set a worrying precedent. What's next? Derek Llambias ruling that Jon Daly deserves a start up front ahead of Kris Boyd? David Somers insisting the side should set up in a 4-5-1 formation instead of a 4-4-2?

The absence of Mohsni and Arnold Peralta will not impact on Rangers as neither man has featured for the first team in weeks.

The loss of Lewis Macleod, however, most certainly will. It is no surprise McCoist is considering asking Scotland boss Gordon Strachan to release the midfielder for the game if he is not set to be involved in the Euro 2016 qualifier with the Republic of Ireland on Friday night.

Macleod scored one goal - his eighth of the campaign -and set up Kenny Miller for another in an emphatic 4-0 triumph over Falkirk in a league game at Ibrox at the weekend.

He was also the deserved recipient of the man of the match award. The 20-year-old, then, will be conspicuous by his absence if he is not in the Rangers team against Alloa.

He certainly has been whenever he has been sidelined previously this term. It was no coincidence the Light Blues drew 1-1 with Alloa away and lost 3-1 to Hibs at home when the talented youngster was injured.

Five of the eight points they have dropped in the league this season have been leaked without him.

Stevie Smith will probably get the nod to stand in for Macleod and will no doubt acquit himself with all of his usual professionalism.

But he is a specialist left- back and is not a like-for-like replacement.

Having said all that, if McCoist's men, who have now kept six consecutive clean sheets in all competitions, continue to play as well as they have done in recent weeks against Barry Smith's charges they should collect all three points.

Their performance against a decent Falkirk side was assured. A Nicky Law strike early on gave them the lead and subsequent efforts from Macleod, Miller and Nicky Clark secured another victory.

The backline of Richard Foster, Darren McGregor, Lee McCulloch and Lee Wallace was once again rock solid. Steve Simonsen in goals was rarely troubled by the visitors.

Hearts edged out Raith Rovers - a side that Rangers had thrashed 6-1 a few weeks ago - by 1-0 through in the capital on Saturday and maintained their four-point advantage at the top of the table.

But the fact that Rangers have won eight games on the spin, letting in just one goal in the process, is rightly giving them confidence they can catch and overtake their main rivals for promotion back to the top flight.

You would think Ally McCoist, the man responsible for orchestrating that run of form and for overseeing Rangers rise through the bottom two divisions, would be deferred to on football matters. You would be wrong.