Gary McAllister says Rangers have snapped back into form

Gary McAllister claimed Rangers snapped back into form with a thumping 5-0 Premier Sports Cup last-16 win over Dunfermline.

The Scottish champions went into the game on the back of three-successive defeats including a Champions League exit against Malmo.

A much-changed Gers side overwhelmed their Championship opponents with first-half goals from John Lundstram, Scott Wright, Ianis Hagi and Kemar Roofe - with the latter slotting in a second-half penalty.

Assistant manager McAllister told Premier Sports that the players took heed of boss Steven Gerrard's advice.

He said: "You go into a game, you are looking for a clean sheet, you are looking to score a goal and you are looking to perform.

"I think we ticked all those boxes. I said before the game we were looking for a reaction, a response and we got it.

"The one word the manager was using prior to the game was 'snap'.

"I thought there was a snap in our tackles, I thought there was a snap in our play and I thought we looked nice and sharp in front of goal.

"I thought we played with some nice confidence, there was some great combination play around the corner of the boxes to create the chances and we looked exciting.''

Gerrard made eight changes to his starting line-up and brought on Alfredo Morelos, Stephen Kelly and Scott Arfield in the second half.

Rangers next play the first leg of the Europa League play-off against Armenian side Alashkert at Ibrox next week before matches against Ross County away, Alashkert away and then Celtic at home - four games in 11 days.

Asked if there was now a selection headache, McAllister said: "Every player is so key, it is not going to be about 11 players. Domestic to Europe is going to be different and we need a big squad.''

• superscoreboard