ALLY McCOIST has laughed off concerns about Kris Boyd's form ahead of tonight's League Cup showdown with Inverness Caley Thistle at Ibrox.

The Rangers boss revealed he couldn't stop grinning as his striker endured a nightmare in front of goal in the Light Blues' 4-0 victory over Raith Rovers last Friday.

But he praised 31-year-old Boyd for his contribution to the team's recent scoring spree and tipped him to be back on target again soon.

Boyd missed a procession of chances in the Championship match at Stark's Park.

It was the fifth time in five outings in the second tier this season that the Gers' summer signing had drawn a blank.

But the Ibrox gaffer insisted that the forward's shocking finishing had amused him more than alarmed him.

"We all had a smile on our faces," McCoist said, "though I'm not sure that I was smiling while it was still 0-0.

"It was just one of those nights for Boydy. But it would be totally wrong of me to focus on that when we have scored more goals than any other team in the country.

"The fact of the matter is we did score four at Kirkcaldy and we could have scored more. We also netted four goals against Dumbarton and Queen of the South and eight against Clyde.

"Boydy's the first to say it's more important that the team has scored 27 goals in eight matches this season, with 22 in our last five games."

McCoist went on to praise the frontman's selfless work on behalf of his team-mates.

"There's always an overall disappointment about not scoring because, as a centre-forward, that's your job.

"But the biggest part is to win the game. The team is the most important thing.

"I told Kris after the game he he did absolutely brilliantly in closing a Raith player down in the run-up to the second goal.

"Other people maybe didn't see that but we did.

"He dropped back into an area, won the ball back and knocked it to Ian Black, who went on and scored."

Despite being the most prolific scorer in Rangers' history, with 355 goals to his name, McCoist readily admits he also had his occasional off-day.

He believes that when the shots are not hitting the back of the net it is important that a forward should persevere, and he is reassured to see that is exactly what Boyd is doing.

He also has a feeling that the Scottish Premier League's all-time top scorer will get back on the mark tonight at Ibrox.

THE Rangers manager said: "When you hit a dry spell in front of goal you just have to keep going, that is all you can do.

"And the great thing about Kris last Friday night is that he kept turning up for the next chance - and the one after that and the one after that.

"He needs to keep getting into the penalty box and into the right areas and doing the right thing.

"That's what Kris did, which is why he had three or four chances. If you miss a few you have to forget about it.

"What happened to Boydy is not a concern. He's scored five goals in the cups.

"He will give himself the opportunity to score in the next few games, there is no doubt about that.

"We all know Kris well enough to say there's nothing surer than that he will take a chance against Inverness.

"I'm not losing any sleep over it and I don't think for a minute that Kris is either."

McCoist, though, knows that Boyd and the rest of his players will have to be at their best if Rangers are to progress in the League Cup.

The Ibrox boss was at Firhill on Saturday to watch Inverness take on Partick Thistle in a league match.

The Highlanders conceded their first goals of the season, suffered their first defeat and lost their place at the top of the Premiership as their hosts ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.

McCOIST, though, insisted he would not be fooled by the weekend performance of John 'Yogi' Hughes' side.

"After the game Yogi said it had been uncharacteristically bad defending on their part," McCoist explained. "They lost three goals and didn't defend particularly well but I'll not be reading too much into it.

"John has Inverness playing really well just now. There is a good physicality about them and they have talented players like Graeme Shinnie and Billy McKay."

Despite their continuing off-field problems, Rangers are hoping to secure the SPFL Championship title and promotion to the Premiership.

They have won only one of four matches against top-flight opposition since their demotion two years ago,

So McCoist - who will be without keeper Cammy Bell and striker Kenny Miller for tonight's game - is interested to see how his side fares

He said: "This cup tie will give us an idea of where we are in a one-off game against a good team from the top flight.

"Two years ago we had two cup matches of completely contrasting styles and results.

"We had a fantastic performance against Motherwell at Ibrox then Inverness beat us comfortably here.

"It's important that we go all out to win tonight but, in the grand scheme of things, the most important thing is our quest to get back to the top."