BARRY FERGUSON is confident he can pick up his shattered Clyde troops and turn them into title challengers in the aftermath of their Ibrox humbling.

The Bully Wee crashed to an 8-1 defeat to Rangers on Monday night as Ally McCoist's side eased to a comprehensive victory in the Petrofac Training Cup.

And Ferguson is determined to get back on track as soon as possible as attentions turn to Saturday's League Two clash with Elgin.

He said: "I've been a motivator all my days, that's one of the things I did as a captain and I don't think I'll have a problem motivating these players.

"I didn't go ranting and raving, I kept them in the dressing room for a half an hour and we had a long chat.

"I've been involved in games where we've lost five and six - it happens. Six of the goals that we lost came from our mistakes and we'll try to rectify that on the training ground.

"I expect a reaction from them and that's one thing I'll demand. We set standards and targets this season and one of them was to achieve promotion. I still believe we can do that."

Ferguson's dream return to Ibrox quickly turned sour as the Light Blues hit the goal trail, with Kris Boyd inspiring McCoist's side to victory with a clinical hat-trick. Lewis Macleod, Lee McCulloch and Fraser Aird were also on target for Rangers and the heavy defeat has taken its toll on Ferguson.

"It was a very difficult night. I think I had about half an hour's sleep. I've watched a video of the game twice," he said.

"We need to get over it as soon as possible because we've got a important game on Saturday - that's what I said to the boys after the game.

"We had a chance to go and show that we could play at a higher level. They know they let themselves down and that's the biggest disappointment.

"I'm desperate to get them in on Thursday and sweep this under the carpet and look forward to a good league campaign."