Rangers out to stop the rot

Rangers lost 3-1 to Limavady United and are now fourth-from-bottom in the Championship 1 table. Hughes, however, is optimistic his team will recover and he’s looking forward today’s challenge against Loughgall.

“Every game is pretty much the same, really. You have got to scrap and battle to earn the right to get the ball down and play it – and you have to make sure you are defensively tight. That’s precisely what is needed no matter who you are facing,” he told the Times.

“But we will go to Loughgall with plenty of confidence. The defeats have not had a detrimental effect on the players. They all want the ball and we are constantly pushing forward. Keep doing that, and things will come right. We have just got to be patient.

“It’s obvious that we’ve had some problems in the last few weeks and we need to get back in the groove. But everybody goes through these little blips and we just have to cope with it and start turning things round again.”

Dubliner Correy Davidson (inset) - arguably Carrick’s best player in the early matches of the campaign - is expected to return to the fray this weekend after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

“He’s a real threat up front, providing a terrific cutting edge,” said Hughes. “He loves bringing people to him and that creates space for other players. So that will be good.”

After another below-par defensive display against United, Hughes knows his team have to get things right at the back against Loughgall.

“Losing to Limavady was disappointing, particularly as we started well and were in control for the first 15 minutes. We again conceded a bit of a sloppy goal and were then on the back foot a little.

“We were clearly ruffled and, in what was pretty much a follow-on from the Tobermore game, we conceded again and that was very disappointing because the guys didn’t defend as we wanted them to do.

“In the second half we went out and were totally dominant. We had a couple of good chances spurned, the ball cleared off the goal-line on one occasion and the goalkeeper making a good save as we tried to get it back to 2-2.

“However, once more we conceded a goal which should have been avoided and all our good work was effectively undone by that.

“Defensively, we have been poor. There’s no getting away from that fact. But we are working on it in and will get it sorted. We need to work on this aspect of our play on the training field and ensure that there is a solid back four, or five if we opt for that, so we can then focus on applying the pressure at the other end.

“The trip to Lakeview Park is a tough test, for sure, but that is how we expect it to be and we will go there in the knowledge that we must put in optimum effort and play positively and I believe we will cope accordingly with anything they throw at us.

“I am confident we can get the result we want if we do all that,” he added.