STUART McCALL today vowed Rangers will bounce back from his first defeat as manager when they take on Raith Rovers at Ibrox on Sunday.

 

McCall suffered his first loss in six matches in charge of the Glasgow club against Queen of the South at Palmerston Park last night.

The Doonhamers ran out convincing 3-0 winners - their biggest win over Rangers in their entire 96-year history - to move into fourth place in the SPFL Championship.

However, McCall is confident the result will just be a one-off and is hopeful the League One champions can still go into the Premiership play-off matches on the back of a winning run. McCall said: "The confidence won't be rocked. I said to the lads we will put a line under it. Yeah, we know we weren't good, but we will be good on Sunday.

"We know what this is about. We are talking about going into the play-offs with momentum.

"Tonight, is a setback. We have got to make sure that on Sunday we don't have another setback or then it will become a problem.

"But we will be fully focused on Sunday and will look to get the three points against Raith and put in a strong performance."

He added: "I thought we were doing okay. I felt we controlled large parts of the first half. But this game is about scoring goals.

"We had control of the game, but lacked a cutting edge at the top of the park. We had chances, but didn't really do enough.

"They got one after the half-hour mark. We went in at half-time positive about making a bit more of an impression on the game.

"The key goal is the second goal 10 seconds into the second half. After that we are chasing the game. It suited them with their pace on the counter attack.

"We didn't take our chances and weren't good enough to win the game. But we will move on to Raith Rovers on Sunday and will be confident we can bounce back."

Rangers keeper Cammy Bell missed the game against Queen of the South after suffering a slight knee injury in training at Murray Park this week.

However, McCall stressed the knock is not serious and predicted the former Scotland internationalist will return to his side for the game against Raith this weekend.

He said: "He (Bell) got a bang on his knee the other day and has got a bit of fluid on his knee a bit of swelling. It is nothing serious, nothing sinister.

"If the game had been on grass he probably would have been available. But because of the artificial pitch we felt it advisable he sit it out. He will possibly be available for Sunday."

Queen of the South manager James Fowler was delighted with his side's spirited display and a result which increases their chances of landing a play-off spot.

Fowler said: "I expected to win. We were a bit backs to the wall in the first. The first goal made a big difference and the second goal gave us a big cushion.

"It is a great win for us. We have massive games between now and the end of the season. We want to get in the top four."