McCoist impressed as Diouf keeps his cool

07 February 2011 18:00
Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist has praised El-Hadji Diouf for keeping his cool amid the white-hot atmosphere of Sunday's fiery Old Firm derby at Ibrox. The on-loan Blackburn forward made his first start for the Scottish champions against Celtic and came through the match without too much controversy despite some attention from Scott Brown. The Hoops skipper was booked for celebrating in Diouf's face after netting the equaliser as the fifth round Scottish Cup tie ended in a 2-2 draw. Diouf - who famously spat on a Celtic fan in 2003 - claimed Brown taunted him throughout the game but said he was determined not to react to the provocation - an attitude which was welcomed by McCoist. He said: "I thought he was terrific. There were one or two incidents where maybe people were trying to wind him up, which we expected. The Celtic crowd were trying to wind him up a bit and I thought our fans got behind him tremendously well. "He's a good player and that's why we have, thankfully, got him. He handles situations like that and he handled it in this game. "He can take the ball, he can take people on, he can get free-kicks. I thought he handled the situation well and we are pleased he came through it fine."

Source: PA