Michael Beale has backed Rangers keeper Jon McLaughlin despite another ropey display against Ross County.
The Ibrox side beat the Staggies 2-1 yesterday to move within six points of Celtic at the top of the Premiership. A deflected Borna Barisic strike - and Malik Tillman’s first half header - sealed the win for Beale’s men. But only after McLaughlin was caught out for Jordan White’s equaliser.
Beale rotated his goalkeepers again for the visit of County, dropping Allan McGregor to the bench.But McLaughlin was slow off his line for a cross and found wanting when White headed in to make it 1-1. The 35-year-old was last selected against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park a fortnight ago - when he flapped at a cross and allowed Chris Stokes to score. After beating County, Beale defended his deputy keeper and said he’ll continue to flip between McGregor and McLaughlin between now and the end of the season.
He said: “I thought we were slow coming out to a short corner. We were winning the game 1-0 at home and we were comfortable in the game.
“Jon didn’t have much to do.Then we switch off, they deliver it and where are the centre halves, where’s Jon? It’s a collective thing.
“This week we’ve had two games and a late night midweek. I just felt Jon was the fresher goalie coming into today.
“He didn’t have much to do and I’ll continue to rotate them. I’m trying to get us through a tough schedule, that’s why I’m rotating.
“I’m assessing the keepers with a view to what I’ll do in the summer. Robby McCrorie’s injury hasn’t healed and he’s still three or four weeks away which is disappointing. It’s hard for him to show me what he can do.
“Jon’s always there. We all know Allan isn’t getting any younger and he’s our number one right now. But if I feel he needs a rest, Jon is always able. Have we lost any games with him? He’s not the issue.
“We conceded a lousy goal off a set-play but we all need a shake for that.”
Beale handed new boy Nico Raskin an eight-minute cameo off the bench against County. He says the fact he threw him on with the game still in the balance is a measure of how much he rates the Belgian.
Beale said: “It was an interesting time to throw a boy on for his debut but I trust him. He was very good.
“He only met his team mates on Friday and worked with them for 25 minutes. To go out there was a big call on my behalf but I want to get him started.”
After a stunning display at Tynecastle in midweek to beat Hearts 3-0, Rangers made hard work of the win over Malky Mackay’s side. They were wasteful in the first half and had to rely on a lucky ricochet from Barisic’s set-piece to pick up the points.
Beale admits he still has plenty of work to do despite going 12 games unbeaten since he arrived as gaffer. And he praised Ross County for running them so close.
He said: “People got excited and carried away after Wednesday but my eyes are wide open, this is a long journey to where we want to get to.
“I know the job we need to do. Away from Ibrox when teams go for us we can press and show our defensive strength.
“That’s the easiest thing to get back. The bits when you have to beat a block at Ibrox - that takes a little bit longer.
“That’s why we look stronger away from home than at Ibrox right now. Malky came with a really good game plan and I thought his boys were terrific today
“I have to assess myself because I’m trying to keep one or two players happy or engaged. I’m showing a lot of faith in people and maybe that disjointed the performance a little bit.
“It was our third game in a week where we’ve got three wins. That’s the most important thing.
“We’re still searching for a performance here at Ibrox where we take our chances. Some of our football again was very good but again we were fussy in the final third.
“If you think about how ruthless we were on Wednesday, how clinical we were. Today we had people taking two, three, four touches in and around the box when we should be getting our shots off.
“We made the game more difficult than what it was, defensively. But I have to say I thought Ross County were very good.”
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