Defiant Stuart McCall on Thursday night urged Rangers to show an immediate response to the first defeat of his tenure and maintain belief in their promotion push. The Ibrox side crashed to a second Championship defeat of the season at Palmerston as Derek Lyle, Gavin Reilly and a Lee Wallace own goal gave Queen of the South’s play-off hopes a massive boost. But McCall is adamant that confidence will not be dented by the scale of the loss and he expects his players to bounce back in Sunday’s home meeting with Raith Rovers. Stuart McCall  urged Rangers to show an immediate response to the first defeat of his tenure . The Ibrox side crashed to a second Championship defeat of the season at Palmerston . ‘We’ve already spoken about going into the play-offs with good momentum,’ said McCall. ‘Tonight is a set-back but we’ve got to make sure on Sunday that we don’t have another set-back or then it can become a problem. ‘We will be fully focused on Sunday and we will be looking for the three points. ‘There will be no confidence factor come Sunday — I can assure you of that. Sometimes you get beat and you just have to hold your hands up and give credit to the opposition. ‘I was pleased with certain things leading up to their first goal. I thought we were doing well. ‘I said to the lads that we will put a line under it. Yeah, we know we weren’t good tonight but we will be good on Sunday.’ Rangers remain third in the table — behind Hibernian on goal difference but with a game in hand — after what was their biggest-ever loss to Queens. ‘Fair play to them,’ said McCall, who expects Cammy Bell to be fit to face Raith after a minor knee injury. ‘They were clinical when they had their chances. New manager McCall (right) suffered his first defeat since taking charge of the Ibrox club . Striker Derek Lyle points to the skies after putting Queen of the South in the lead at Palmerston Park . Lewis Kidd celebrates after doubling Queen of the South's lead at the start of the second half . ‘We controlled large parts of the first half but they got a lot of good blocks in. It’s about scoring goals and they got the first one. ‘Then we lost a goal that was really poor defending straight from the kick-off. Then you are chasing the game and that suited them with their pace on the counter attack. ‘We had some chances in the second half but we never really did enough. We weren’t good enough to win the game but we move on. ‘I’ve said it before and I will say it again, there will be ups and downs between now and the end of the season. It’s how we react to it, and Sunday can’ t come quickly enough for me.’ Jubilant Queen of the South boss James Fowler was thrilled with a result that saw his team leapfrog Falkirk into that crucial fourth place in the Championship standings. ‘We were backs to the wall a wee bit in the first half,’ admitted Fowler. ‘But we managed to cope with that. We got the goal and then getting another one so early in the second half was great. ‘All the players were great and we are pushing hard.’
Rangers lost 3-0 against Queen of the South on Thursday night.
Stuart McCall: 'We’ve got to make sure on Sunday that we don’t have another set-back or then it can become a problem'
McCall is adamant confidence will not be dented by the 3-0 defeat.