Barry Ferguson dissects his Rangers dugout debut - Nsiala substitution, Dessers denial and half-time message

The former skipper was wondering whether he had made the right decision to agree to step in to replace Philippe Clement just 15 minutes in, with his side already 2-0 down.

Goals from Joe Wright and Brad Lyons put Kilmarnock in the driving seat as they sought to take advantage of some evident uncertainty in the away ranks following such an eventful few days. But Vaclav Cerny cut the deficit in half before half-time and Cyriel Dessers struck twice within 20 minutes of the re-start to give Rangers the lead, with substitute Nedim Bajrami completing a 4-2 win five minutes before the end.

The away fans hailed Ferguson after the final whistle. “What was I thinking 15 minutes in?” he asked afterwards. “All sorts. It wasn’t the start I was expecting, I will be honest with you.”

Ferguson was even forced to make a change to his team after only 30 minutes with Clinton Nsiala enduring a torrid time against Kilmarnock striker Marley Watkins. Ridvan Yilmaz replaced him with James Tavernier moving into centre-half.

“I've got to make decisions,” said Ferguson. “Clinton's a young player, he's got huge potential, but it could have been a number of players. But I've been brought here to do a job, I have to make some tough decisions at times. I'm not scared to make tough decisions, but it worked.

“But listen, Clinton...we're going to work with him, we're going to make him better, and he'll learn from it. So it's nothing against the young man, as I said. I think he's got a bright, bright future in front of him.”

Ferguson admitted he was taken aback by the start. “I only had one day with them, one training session, an hour and a half in the grass,” he said. “That was it. But I'm not using that as an excuse. Listen, the first 20, 25 minutes is nowhere near good enough. They understood that, but they found a way to get back in.”

The interim manager revealed what he had told his players at half time, with his words having had the desired effect. Rangers scored three times in the second half to secure victory.

“I come in at half-time, it's easy for me to start knocking heads together and going off my head," said Ferguson. "But I said: ‘Erase that out of your mind. Look at what you've done in the last 10 minutes of the half. Now, go and be even better than that in the second.'

"We controlled the game in the second half. We controlled it, we were hungrier, and they showed all the ingredients that I want to see from a Rangers team.”

He denied he was preparing to replace Dessers early in the second half after exhibiting some signs of frustration with the striker before his game-defining brace. “I thought Cyriel led the line really well…. It's just me. Listen, I've got high standards,” he said.

Ferguson invited his players to savour the moment before reporting for training in the morning to start preparations for facing Motherwell this weekend. “At the end, I've enjoyed it,” he said. “I told them in the dressing room, enjoy these moments, enjoy the wins. We're back in at 11am to prepare for Motherwell.

“I'm giving them huge credit, because this is a tough place. I don't know the stats of the record books, I don't know how many teams have come here and been 2-0 down, and come back and beat them 4-2 pretty convincingly.

“I'm going to give my players credit,” he added. “Because I don't think they've had enough throughout this season. So, it's about time they gave a wee bit. But listen, I need to see more than that.”