No excuses from McCoist

20 November 2011 08:16

Manager Ally McCoist refused to blame injuries or the international break after Rangers were held to a goalless draw by St Johnstone in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

The Scottish champions lacked a cutting edge in the clash at Ibrox, allowing Saints to return to Perth with a share of the points from new boss Steve Lomas' first game in charge.

McCoist said: "It was a very, very disappointing afternoon. We didn't play anything like we can and we looked a little bit off it for the majority of the afternoon to be quite honest."

He added: "We didn't threaten their goal nearly enough, we didn't put their goalkeeper under any pressure and we didn't create any chances. I just don't think we did enough to win the game.

"We always seem to have these conversations after the international breaks but I'm getting a little bit sick of that because I don't look on it as a reason or an excuse. But it is another disappointing result after an international break.

"We've got a few injuries but everybody throughout the season will get a few injuries. There's no doubt about that. The biggest concern for me and the biggest disappointment was the overall team performance for me.

"We needed a bit more width and we didn't have that - it was disappointing that Gregg Wylde wasn't available for selection. When we don't have any real width it hinders us in terms of creating chances."

Lomas was the happier of the two managers and insists the result was far from a shock.

He said: "I wasn't surprised. I knew the work ethic and I knew the quality. I've been saying all week that I was confident.

"I wasn't over-confident because Rangers are on a great run but I knew by the tone of my players in training that they were going to have a right go. I thought we should have won the game. We had the better chances but we know how good Rangers are."

Source: PA