HARIS Vuckic today revealed the Rangers players are relishing the chance to end their losing run at Palmerston Park in the SPFL Premiership Play-Off quarter-final.

The Ibrox club failed to finish second in the Championship at the weekend after drawing 2-2 with runaway winners Hearts at Tynecastle.

Hibs defeated Falkirk 3-0 away to secure the runners-up spot in the second tier table to book a place in the play-off semi-final.

Stuart McCall had desperately wanted to avoid a trip to Dumfries to play at a venue his side has lost at twice during the 2014/15 campaign.

The Gers' record on the synthetic surface is nothing short of woeful; they lost 2-0 back in December and crashed to an even worse 3-0 reverse in April.

Yet, Vuckic, who played in that painful defeat last month, today stressed that returning to Palmerston holds no fears for the Rangers players.

In fact, the Slovenian internationalist insisted they are looking forward to going back to the ground so they can atone for their earlier flops.

He said: "We had, of course, hoped to beat Hearts and finish second. But we needed Falkirk to defeat Hibs as well and that did not happen.

"It would have been good to avoid playing two extra games, give ourselves some rest and get prepared for the semi-final.

"Now that will not be the case. We have to play well in all of the games that we have between now and the end of the season if we want to go up.

"We have lost two games to Queen of the South away from home this season, have conceded five goals and have not scored any goals ourselves.

"But we are all positive that we can go back there and get a result and are all looking forward to the game."

Vuckic is optimistic that adopting different tactics in the first leg of the quarter-final this weekend will yield a positive result for Rangers.

McCall confessed after losing his first game as interim manager last month that he should not have been so attack-minded.

And he has admitted he will field a far more defensive formation on Saturday so his team is not punished so ruthlessly on the break by the home team.

Vuckic, the versatile midfielder who has been outstanding since arriving on loan from Newcastle United at the end of the January transfer window, feels that could produce a different outcome.

He said "Palmerston Park is definitely a very hard place to play. They beat us 3-0 the last time that we went down there.

"But we had the ball at our feet far more than they did in that game. They just hurt us on the counter attack. They broke up the park and scored three good goals.

"I don't think the result was a fair reflection of how we played on the night. We enjoyed a lot of possession and created good chances.

"We just didn't take them and they did. I don't think that we deserved to end up losing the game 3-0. It was a strange match in many ways.

"We could easily have scored two or three goals if we had taken some of the opportunities which we created. If we had, it would have been a different game.

"We know that as a team we have to be ready and we have to start the play-offs with a positive result and believe that we can do exactly that."

Vuckic continued: "But playing the first leg away from home will help us. Getting a positive result at Palmerston Park will mean we go into the second leg at Ibrox in a good position to progress.

"I don't know what the game plan against Queen of the South is going to be, but I am confident it is going to be a different game from the last time we played there."

Vuckic will return to Premier League club Newcastle following the play-off matches and is determined to fight for a regular first team place there next season.

Given how well the 22-year-old has performed in Scotland, and how poorly United have fared in England without him, he would appear to have a good chance of establishing himself.

However, he has greatly enjoyed his successful spell at Rangers and insisted he is fully focused on helping the Ibrox club secure promotion back to the top flight in the coming weeks.

Vuckic said: "I intend to return to Newcastle when my loan deal is finished and force my way into the team there next season. I still have a year left on my contract.

"But that is for the future. Just now, I am a Rangers player and my job is to play well for the club and help them to win matches. That is what I will try to do.

"When I first came to the club things were difficult and we have managed to turn things around and lift our performances and record a few positive results.

"We have beaten both Hibs and Hearts in the league and are confident we can win whenever we take to the field no matter who the opposition we face is.

"The fans have been fantastic with me since I have come to the club and they have really got behind the team. It would be good to repay them for their backing by winning promotion through the play-offs."