ALLY McCOIST is baffled by the SPFL rules that have left him with a major selection headache for the opening weeks of the new season.

With the club still under an SFA registration embargo, the Gers boss had hoped to field all seven of his summer signings as trialists in the Ramsdens Cup, League Cup and League One.

But the governing body have confirmed that he will not be able to play anyone who wasn't registered in Scotland last season – such as Arnold Peralta, Stevie Smith and Richard Foster – until September 1, with further limits on who can play and when.

McCoist said: "We are allowed to play two trialists on Sunday, as long as their International Transfer Certificates are in Scotland.

"That would be Cammy Bell, Nicky Law, Nicky Clark and Jon Daly. We can't play any of the other ones because their ITCs are not in Scotland.

"In the next round of the Ramsdens, if we get there, we can't play any trialists. It's the same competition but we can't play any of them as trialists.

"We can't play any trialists in the League Cup and in the league, we can play two trialists three times as long as their ITC is in Scotland.

"So we won't see anybody whose ITC is not in Scotland until September 1.

"Nothing comes as a shock. It comes as a major disappointment.

"The one that completely baffles me is how you can play a trialist in the first round of the Ramsden's but can't in the next round. It's strange, that's all I'm saying.

"It is what it is and we just have to get on with it. But it is rather strange."

With only a handful of his summer signings available, McCoist will have to rely on the players that took Rangers to the Third Division title last term in the opening weeks of the campaign.

And the Ibrox boss admits the situation is far from ideal as they look to hit the ground running, starting with their Ramsdens Cup opener against Albion Rovers tomorrow.

He said: "It creates a false start to the season but it is a problem we'll have to handle.

"There is a positive way to look at it, the boys who start will be trying to keep the jersey and perform at a level that will make it extremely difficult for the other boys to get in. That's the way they've got to look at it.

"But it is absolutely far from ideal. That it is the best part of another five weeks where the boys won't be able to play competitive games.

"I knew there would be problems. We certainly have alternative plans about who we will play.

"I'm not saying for a minute we are not going to start Cammy Bell, but Scott Gallacher,who we want to go out on loan, played and did all right [against Sheffield Wednesday]."

Tomorrow's Rovers clash will be Rangers' first competitive outing of the campaign following an encouraging few weeks of pre-season action.

The Gers underperformed in the three cup competitions last time out and McCoist is targeting significant improvement across the board.

He said: "We are targeting them all.

"We are not in the position to say one is more valuable than other.

"Obviously we are targeting promotion, but in terms of all the cups they will be the same because we want to win them all."

Meanwhile, Bilel Mohsni has signed a two-year deal and will be registered on September 1.