RANGERS investors will have to keep ploughing millions into the cash-strapped Ibrox club - after coming up short in their bid to reach the SPFL Premiership.

Stuart McCall's battle-weary side crashed to a 3-0 defeat to Motherwell in the second leg of the play-off final at Fir Park on Sunday.

That painful reverse meant they lost 6-1 on aggregate and failed to complete "The Journey" from the bottom division of Scottish football to the top flight.

Major Gers shareholder Dave King has stated that not winning promotion this season wouldn't impact on the new regime's long-term business plan.

And football finance expert Ken Pattullo, a partner in major accountancy firm Begbies Traynor, has stressed the setback won't be catastrophic.

But Pattullo revealed that new chairman King and other wealthy benefactors would need to continue pumping money in for the foreseeable future after the blow.

The Ibrox club continues to operate at a monthly loss and has had to agree three loan deals worth a total of £8 million since January.

Mike Ashley (£5m), The Three Bears consortium which comprises George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor (£1.5m) and King (£1.5m) have all provided vital working capital.

Pattullo said: "They will have to carry on investing. But, certainly, they have publicly pronounced they will continue to do that.

"Losing all of those highly-paid players will help substantially reduce the players' wage bill. At the moment, it is still the second highest in Scotland.

"That is farcical given the level they are still playing at.

"This is the legacy of the decisions which were made several years ago, long before the present board and the present owners came in.

"They are paying a high price for the actions of their predecessors.

"The Rangers supporters now have people in charge who have the best interests of the club at heart.

"But I think there is still a lot of water to flow under the Mike Ashley bridge. It will be far from plain sailing."

Pattullo continued: "The main benefit of promotion would have been four games against Celtic every season.

"Only two of them would have been at home. But there would have been increased revenue from television and other areas on top of that.

"Rangers will obviously want to go up next season. Will it be the end of the world if they don't? No, it won't be.

"They will still be able to bring in pretty big crowds if they are at the top of near the top of the league."

Pattullo has warned that failing to clinch promotion will impact on the new Rangers manager's ability to rebuild his squad and launch a serious challenge for the Championship title.

And he predicted that pipping Falkirk, Hibs, Queen of the South and St. Mirren to the second tier won't be easy for the Ibrox club.

He said: "Maybe some are expecting Rangers to stroll up and win next season. There probably isn't going to be a team like Hearts running away with it.

"But I wouldn't have thought it will be too much easier next season that is has been this season.

"Playing in the Championship will put off players from down south. A lot of them would have come up to play in the Premiership, but not in the second tier.

"Hearts and Hibs have invested heavily in youth. They have got talented young players without paying any transfer fee.

"Rangers have several promising youngster emerging, too, but they have to seriously look at doing that increasingly in the future."