Ally McCoist's absence from his usual talkSPORT slot has been put down to Rangers' defeat against Ross County.

Host Jeff Stelling joked that McCoist was not present on the morning broadcast due to the "body blow" for Rangers as they lost 3-2 in Dingwall.

In an on-air jibe at pal McCoist, Stelling stated that the result in Dingwall "explains everything" regarding the Ibrox hero's absence.

Referencing McCoist - having received messages over his no-show - Stelling stated: "A lot of you are asking where Ally McCoist is this morning.

"Well, Ross County 3 Rangers 2 explains everything.

"Ross County play in Dingwall by the way. Population 5,500 and they have never, ever, ever beaten Rangers."

Stelling then added: "They went one down as well and it's a body blow as far as Rangers' title hopes are concerned."

Andy Townsend - filling in for McCoist on the show - insisted Rangers can still win the title despite the slip-up, with Steeling concluding: "Of course they can. They're four points adrift but still have a game in hand and still have Celtic to play as well.

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"But they've lost half-a-dozen- times this season, not just to Ross County, but to Motherwell, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock as well. So it's been a vintage season, even though they are in the title race."

Philippe Clement said after the defeat: "I'm very disappointed with our performance. The first half we didn't play well, not enough of the ball, I know circumstances are maybe not ideal to play really good football, but we can do much better. 

"Like we showed that the last half hour. That's what I missed today that first hour we missed this urgency to kill the game, to score goals, to not give anything away, and you do that first half by scoring and having a lead. 

"I warned them at half-time that I wanted to see more, and then we get two really early goals (against), and then we need to chase the game. So, it's a very disappointing afternoon for us."