The Scottish Communities League cup match against Falkirk at Ibrox on Thursday is one of those quiet matches that sneaks up on you like the shark in the ‘Jaws’ films. And like those films, no-one seems to be paying attention until it’s too late. All we need is the ‘da-dum, da-dum’ theme tune over the Ibrox tannoy.

Alright, there’s a little dramatic licence being used here, but it is true that this is the type of match that the players need to be up for or they will lose. I’ve touched enough on the bad attitude of the Rangers players on these pages so we won’t go there again. But with a quieter Ibrox in front of a 25,000 crowd, then any lack of effort will be punished.

This would be a disaster for McCoist's reputation - as well as the Rangers fans' sanity.

Falkirk are coming off their first win in the league against Morton, and although Rangers deserved to win at the Falkirk Stadium, it was a pretty dire midfield affair. We can expect a much more open game at home.

The defence that started the season, including Broadfoot, Goian, Bocanegra and Wallace have been decimated. Wallace has been injured, Goian went to Italy on loan and Broadfoot has agreed with the club that his contract should be “null and void”.

Worse, although Bocanegra will play against Falkirk, the clever money is on him going to France or the MLS before the transfer window shuts. Rangers could be a left with an untried defence come next month.

For this match we can assume that McCoist will start with Perry on the right, Emilson Cribari and Bocanegra in the centre and Wallace coming back on the left after recovering from injury.

Although Falkirk lacked serious firepower up-front in the Ramsdens Cup match, Falkirk manager Steven Pressley will have noticed much to exploit when watching the game against Berwick Rangers.

The lack of pace among Bocanegra and Cribari when the ball gets behind them is worrying, and although not disgracing themselves, Argyriou and Perry looked very nervous in the match. At least Lee Wallace returning should add more solidity.

Going forward, the midfield and strikers should be the same with Dean Shiels as another coming back from injury - possibly replacing McKay who should be rested. His addition should give the spark of creativity that has been lacking.

Up front, Sandaza has been poor, but much of that has been his lack of a pre-season and Rangers' over-reliance on long balls. He is working hard but nothing seems to be coming to fruition, and this is the type of match that can start his season.

As much as the result, it will be interesting to see how the team play. Will they resort to the baffling use of the long ball, or will the team analysis from Sunday finally ensure that SPL class footballers play the ball on the deck and with pace? Let's hope for the latter.

But enough of the negativity!

Although Falkirk will probably score, I fully expect this Rangers team to batter Falkirk into submission. Wallace and Shiels in the team is a huge positive, and with the accumulative embarrassment of Peterhead and Berwick on the mind of the players and staff, I would expect a few goals from the Light Blues.

Prediction - Rangers 4-1 Falkirk, with Sandaza finally coming alive in the box and getting a few goals.

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