Rangers head coach Barry Ferguson says he saw “heart and desire” on the rugby park pitch.
The former Ibrox captain, who won 15 trophies as a player, finished the whirlwind 48 hours later by celebrating when travel fans recited his name.
Ferguson is now demanding that his players continue to show the same fight they did after falling behind strikes from Joe Wright and the Brad Lions for the rest of the season.
“I’m not going to be excited. It was good, but there’s a lot we need to improve and people know that,” the 47-year-old told Sky Sports.
“They were under that scrutiny, but they have hearts and desires.
“If I hadn’t thought I could get something from them, I wouldn’t have been in a job. They showed them another side tonight.
“I’m not going to get hooked, it’s just one game. They’ll have to bring it on Saturday as they’re home now, and if that’s going to happen in 10 minutes, the crowd will get a little touch on you.
“They need to learn to deal with these situations. I think they’ve spent the last 24 hours with them and now they’re aware of the situation.”
Clinton Nuciarra went underwear at the rugby park 30 minutes later
After starting with the same starting XI as Cost Clement, in his position in a 2-0 loss to St Mirren, Ferguson hooked Clinton Neciara after a 30-minute struggle at Kilmarnock.
“You have to make tough decisions while things aren’t going your way,” Ferguson added.
“Clinton’s young, he’ll recover from it, but I just felt that we had to make a change at that stage and it clearly worked for us.
“We started to take control of the game, and we probably started to relax a little.
“We thought we were a little nervous, but their confidence was very low, so we need to be careful about that.
“I told them they were playing for a great club, there were expectations and demands from you, you had to handle these and I thought they handled it, the last 10-15 minutes of the first half, and certainly the second 45 were great.”
What the critic said
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Barry Ferguson’s Rangers came back from 2-0 and scored all three points against Kilmarnock in his first game
Sky Sports experts discussed Ferguson’s debut in the Rangers dugout.
Former Rangers Captain Stephen Davis:
“It’s absolutely amazing, I think he thought [Ferguson] It’s really disappointing, but certainly there was a huge response from the team.
“They will definitely be happy to get a victory. It’s not an easy feat to come from the two goals here at Kilmarnock, so he’ll go back to a happy man.”
Former Rangers forward Chris Boyd:
“After the first 30 minutes, you’re probably thinking, ‘Where is this going?’ And suddenly it turned out to be the same problem the Rangers faced all season.
“We have to give Barry Ferguson a clear alternative, take him to Ilmaz, move a few players and give credit to the player who saw the ranger click and score a good goal just before halftime.
“The second half they were totally dominated over it, so I think I’ll be happy with the performance after 30 minutes, but the same question is still being asked. Rangers are very vulnerable in set-play.”
Former Scottish striker James McFadden:
“He was brought in to reunite the team with his supporters and try to lift the whole mood. The way the game actually panned out probably wouldn’t have been better come from two goals.
“As much as he didn’t have to come from two goals, these fans certainly enjoy it.
“We talked at length about the time Barry Ferguson’s coaching staff had to work with players, and Barry talked about how he wanted to play for his team. The ultimate goal from him is to win the game.”
Rangers’ upcoming equipment:
- March 1st: Motherwell (H) – Scottish Premiership
- March 6th: Fenerbahce (A) – The last 16 of the Europa League
- March 13th: Fenerbahce (H) – Europa League Last -16
- March 16th: Celtic (a) – Scottish Premiership, I live in Sky Sports
- March 29th: Dundee (a) – Scottish Premiership, I live in Sky Sports
