Arfield: Rangers have the mentality to recover from cup loss

Scott Arfield believes the Rangers squad has the strength of character to bounce back from their League Cup defeat to St Mirren.

The Ibrox midfielder expects a strong reaction from Steven Gerrard’s side when Motherwell visit on league duty this weekend.

He said: “There’s no sugar-coating it, it was a terrible result for us. It was the first cup that was up for grabs and we fell short.

“You need to give St Mirren credit, they took their chances. We weren’t quite at it 100 per cent and when you come off it you become unstuck.

“It’s up to us now to show a reaction, go after them and be as successful as possible going forward this season again.”

Rangers saw their 27-game unbeaten record smashed by St Mirren after Conor McCarthy’s stoppage-time winner sealed a shock 3-2 win.

The Light Blues’ fans would have been confident of securing the club’s first major trophy in a decade, especially after Celtic were dumped out of the competition in the previous round.

And Arfield says he is fully aware of the high expectations placed on the players at Ibrox.

He said: “I think everybody, once you walk through these doors and you hold this badge I think you know that the spotlight is on you and you are looking for a reaction.

“I feel as if, particularly in this season, since the pre-season time I feel as if we’ve got a better mentality from this squad, so I’ve got no question that we’ll show the right reaction tomorrow against Motherwell – go after them, make it a difficult game and get the result that everybody wants again.”

Previous to Wednesday’s defeat, Rangers had shipped just four goals to domestic opposition this term.

Gerrard says he can understand the disappointment of the fans after seeing another opportunity to end that long wait for silverware disappear, but he does not plan to spend too much longer dwelling on his team’s latest missed chance.

He said: “We’ve been talking about blind spots and watching out for complacency, staying humble and realising the amount of work there is to do and where we are in the season. You know the messages we’ve been giving the players. They are well aware of that.

“But that still doesn’t take away from the fact that we’ve been disappointed with Wednesday night’s result.

“I can totally understand the fans’ frustrations and shock. They’ve just watched their team go on a 27-game unbeaten run and very rarely concede a goal while qualifying in Europe top of their group. To be in a bit of shock, to be disappointed and frustrated is pretty normal.

“It is what it is. It’s done now. We can’t change it. All we can do is control the future and it’s our job to get ready for tomorrow’s challenge in Motherwell.”