MARK Warburton was today urged to rethink his “risky” tactics if he wants Rangers to bounce back from their Old Firm drubbing by Celtic and flourish in the Ladbrokes Premiership this season.

The Ibrox club was thrashed 5-1 at Parkhead last weekend to fall four points behind the Scottish title holders - who still have a game in hand to play - in the top flight table after just five matches.

The pressure is well and truly on Warburton and his players as they enter back-to-back league games against Ross County at home on Saturday afternoon and Aberdeen away at Pittodrie on Sunday week.

Read more: Joey Barton urged to play prominent role in Rangers revival after Old Firm drubbingGlasgow Times:

Neale Cooper, the former Rangers midfielder and Ross County manager, has backed the League Cup champions to give the Championship winners a difficult match in what is their first ever visit to Ibrox this weekend.

Jim McIntyre’s team are currently in fourth place in the Premiership table just a point behind their opponents after winning two and drawing one of their opening five games and can leapfrog their hosts with a victory.

Read more: SFA chief Regan calls on Scottish football to unite and stamp out Old Firm "misbehaviour"

Cooper has been impressed with the stylish attacking football which Rangers have produced since Warburton took charge last year – but thinks he may need to adopt a more pragmatic approach in the 2016/17 campaign.

The Englishman has stubbornly refused to deviate from his game plan and revert to a Route One style of play throughout his time in Scotland – and famously remarked last term that his “Plan B is doing Plan A better”.

“I like the way the manager gets this Rangers team to play,” said Cooper. “No doubt about it, he gets them playing good football. I like the passing and movement of the side. But sometimes they do take risks coming out from the back with the ball.

“When I first saw them last season I thought: ‘Oh, this is a bit risky!’ Sometimes his players will take a wee chance. But it worked well for him last season and worked well for him when he was at Brentford in England.

“The way Rangers play is risky. But when you are asking your goalkeeper to chip the ball to the full back you are taking chances. If it comes off, fantastic. But if it doesn’t you are in trouble. Maybe the game against Celtic at the weekend was a lesson for them.

“Maybe he has to stand back and say: ‘Wait a minute. In the Premiership we are up against better and sharper players’. There may be occasions and matches where he has to alter what he is doing.

“All good teams have to change when they play certain teams. When I was at Aberdeen Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) didn’t send us out to play Greenock Morton the same way he sent us out to play Rangers. He was clever that way.

“We could certainly play football when we needed to, but when teams didn’t expect it we would change it. We just went out and won the battle. At times, that is exactly what is required.”

The former European Cup Winners’ Cup winner, meanwhile, has stated the senior players at Ibrox, the likes of Joey Barton, Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace, must assume responsibility for getting Rangers back to winning ways following the loss to Celtic.

Barton, the former Newcastle United, Manchester City and Marseille player, has failed to live up to expectations since moving to Glasgow in the summer and was anonymous during the one-sided encounter last weekend.

Cooper, though, believes he has a key role to play in the wake of the heavy loss to their city rivals and has to try and lift the likes of Andy Halliday, Barrie McKay, Wes Foderingham and Josh Windass.

“I am sure Joey will be hurting,” he said. “He has got to stand up and be counted. The older players have got to perform. He is a good professional. With his age and experience, he is the kind of player you are looking to pick things up in training. He must take responsibility for more than performing on match days.

“I knew I was going to Rangers as a squad player when I joined. But I still couldn’t believe the size of the club when I went there and didn’t appreciate just what it meant to people until I got there. It is massive.

“We had leaders throughout the team. You couldn’t have asked for any better. Richard Gough, Terry Butcher, Ray Wilkins, Mark Hateley, Chris Woods and John Brown were all there. They would pick up on things we did wrong in a game at the very next training session and take an active role in turning things around.

“Joey Barton is a quality professional. He will be hurting and will want to put things right. He is a confident guy and will. But he doesn’t just have to perform, he has to lead the younger players by example.”

Read more: Joey Barton urged to play prominent role in Rangers revival after Old Firm drubbing

Cooper was in charge of Ross County when they played Rangers in the League Cup and Scottish Cup at Victoria Park back in 2001 and is looking forward to his two former clubs meeting in the Premiership at Ibrox this weekend.

“The League Cup game was massive for us,” he said. “The whole thing was brilliant. The north of Scotland has quite a strong Rangers following so the Ibrox club coming up was a massive thing for the area. The excitement in the town and among the players was huge.

“They were very strong. I think most of their first team played that night. Tore Andre Flo scored twice in the first half, but Alex Bone netted twice. To come back from 2-0 down and level it was fantastic.

“Ross County have obviously done very well since then. They are there on merit. Jim will make sure the boys are right up for it and are well organised. It will be a tough game for Rangers to bounce back and win.

“They won’t fear going to Ibrox. They don’t fear going anywhere or playing any team. There is a great professionalism at the club. It has always been well run.

"They are very fortunate to have a chairman like Roy McGregor with such an astute business sense who is so supportive of his manager. He understands business and he knows the game as well.”