Rangers face an early Champions League exit if they reproduce their dire Dundee United display against Malmo

Yet, if the Scottish champions perform as unconvincingly as they did in their second top flight outing of the 2021/22 season against Swedish opponents who hold a 2-1 advantage going into the second leg of the third qualifying round double header they run the very real risk of suffering exactly the same sorry outcome.

Not having Kemar Roofe, whose young child has been admitted to hospital, available for selection did not help their cause. But this was an insipid and alarming display so soon to an outing of such importance.   

“We have got no time to sulk or feel sorry for ourselves,” said Gerrard in the wake of the painful reverse on Tayside. “We have got a huge game coming up and it is the perfect opportunity to bounce back. But the key is that we have got to find a level of performance that is a lot better than today.”

Alfredo Morelos, who represented Colombia in the Copa America in Brazil last month, made his first Rangers appearance of the new campaign yesterday despite only returning to training last week after a period in quarantine.

El Bufalo was far from the worst performer in the visitors’ side; he fired just wide early on, tried his luck with two headers in the first-half and worked tirelessly up front before being replaced by Jermain Defoe late on.

But United keeper Benjamin Siegrist was never seriously tested and when Jamie Robson pounced on an Adrian Sporle pass that took a wicked deflection off of Steven Davis and slotted beyond Jon McLaughlin in the second-half they paid the price. 

The home side, who recorded their first triumph over their rivals since 2014 and their first league win over them since 2012, battled for every ball from kick-off to the final whistle and deserved to pick up all three points in front of 4,600 of their delighted supporters.

But the lack of creativity and composure that is charges exhibited in the final third concerned Gerrard greatly. He knows they will have to be more clinical going forward in their rematch with Malmo if they are to win and progress to a play-off against either Olympiacos or Ludogrets Razgrad.

Asked to sum up the Rangers showing, he said: “Not good enough. I don’t think, over the course of the 90 minutes, we deserved to lose the game, but you always put yourself in that position when you don’t go and score goals away from home.

“Our quality, what we created today, wasn’t enough. While the game is at 0-0 you have always got that risk that if you get one thing wrong or a couple of things wrong then that goal can come.

“Look, I have got belief and confidence in all my attacking players that we can go anywhere and score goals, of course I have. But that is when they are at their best. That is when we show quality and force that breakthrough at places like this. Credit to Dundee, they defended really well.

“If we don’t create enough and don’t create clear cut chances, that is on me and that is on us. The result and performance is on me and my team and we will have to accept that and move on pretty quickly.”

The defeat saw Rangers lose back-to-back games for the first time since they were beaten 1-0 by Bayer Leverkusen in the delayed second leg of their Europa League last 16 tie in Germany a year ago. But there was five months between those two results. 

Gerrard, whose men are bidding to secure a lucrative place in the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2010, is keen to avoid a hat-trick of disappointments.

“Look, defeats are always raw,” he said. “When you find that level of consistency that we have, the boys have been absolutely top for me during that run. But the reality is that we have lost two games on the spin and we have to take responsibility for that. I do, I will do and we will put it right.”

Charlie Mulgrew, the former Celtic and Scotland player who returned to United in the summer, was immense for the Tannadice club in the centre of defence. But he was fortunate not to be ordered off when he hauled down Morelos as the striker bore down on his goal just before half-time. Referee Don Robertson only showed the veteran a yellow card.

Courts, a somewhat surprising choice to replace Micky Mellon in June, felt that Mulgrew was integral to a performance which was, after a 2-0 loss to Aberdeen away last week, important to him personally.  

“Charlie’s been a leader, someone who sets and drives standards,” he said. “He looks after himself and still wants to play at the highest level. When you see someone who commits so much during the week, it’s no real surprise that he’s been so successful in his career.

“I think any new manager coming in, particularly with my background, is going to attract interest. I think it was a good opportunity to see if I had the minerals to actually handle this type of job.

“When you lose your first league game and then win your second against the champions, the key thing is to regulate your emotions. I have to make sure that I review things properly, we plan, understand why we’ve been successful and try to replicate it against Ayr.”