Rangers: Ally McCoist says he still has backing of board

McCoist's side have won one of their last four games

Under-fire Ally McCoist believes he still has the confidence of the Rangers board - and the club's supporters.

The Rangers manager faced more angry chants from fans after Wednesday's Petrofac Training Cup semi-final defeat by part-timers Alloa Athletic.

Asked if he still had the backing of the board, the club's record goalscorer said: "Absolutely, yeah.

"Have I lost the confidence of the fans? No, no. But you always get a reaction from poorer results."

McCoist was responding to reports suggesting that there were members of the Glasgow club's board who wanted the 52-year-old replaced.

"I haven't heard otherwise," he said when asked if he still commanded board support. "I imagine that question has been asked following some of the comments in some of the newspapers this morning.

"I haven't read them all, but nobody has told me otherwise that I don't have the support of the board.

"I don't feel the need to seek reassurance."

What is known is that, with the cost of sacking McCoist and his assistants standing at £1.4m, any changes are off the table considering the Ibrox club's finances.

Ahead of the defeat in Alloa, the former Scotland striker had received criticism from fans after his side dropped nine points behind Scottish Championship rivals Hearts following a 2-0 defeat at Tynecastle.

McCoist insisted on Wednesday he has no plans to resign and reiterated that at Friday's pre-match news conference ahead of Saturday's visit to Ibrox by Cowdenbeath.

"I think I've still got a job to do," he said. "I've said all along the job is to get the team back to the top flight, where we feel we belong.

Rangers lost a 2-0 lead as they lost Wednesday's semi-final 3-2 to Alloa

"I was aware it would be a bumpy ride with a few hiccups along the way and that is proving to be the case.

"But we can't allow ourselves to shift our focus away from getting back to the top flight.

"One more defeat certainly won't be the breaking point for me. You have got to be strong and you've got to be focused. That will always be the case for me."

The defeat by Alloa means that Rangers have won only one of their last four games and McCoist said he could "totally understand" the "discontent and unhappiness" among the fans.

However, he pointed out that the victory came with a fine 3-0 defeat of Premiership side Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup.

McCoist said his record 355 goals and nine championship medals during his 15 years as a Rangers player should not shield him from criticism.

"People will make their own judgements, which I totally respect," he added.

"All I can do is assure the supporters I will be doing my level best, 100%, to turn these performances around."