McLeish draws early fire

Just six days into his new job as Rangers manager, Alex McLeish has discovered the steep learning curve that accompanies his role in charge of the struggling Scottish giants. Not only has he seen their Scottish Premier league title chances disappear further from view, but the future of two of his top players is also being called into question.

McLeish slipped at the first hurdle as successor to Dick Advocaat when Rangers were held to a 2-2 draw away at Motherwell on Saturday, leaving them 13 points adrift of leaders Celtic.

McLeish is also having to fend off questions about the future of captain Barry Ferguson, who has been linked with a move to the English Premiership, while unsettled top-scorer Tore Andre Flo has been linked with a move to Germany's Bayer Leverkusen. Suggestions that Leverkusen have made contact about Flo were denied by McLeish on Friday.

The Daily Record has reported Ferguson is seeking a transfer after suffering abuse in the street from rival Celtic supporters. Ferguson insisted the newspaper reports were exaggerated.

McLeish promised on Friday there would be "no knee-jerk reactions" made on the future of players in the under-achieving squad assembled by Advocaat at a cost of £83 million sterling. Ronald de Boer, who has failed to live up to his reputation after a £4 million move from Barcelona last season, is also under pressure.

McLeish declared himself happy with the commitment his team had shown at Motherwell, but not the failure to finish off the home side after Shota Arveladze and De Boer had put Rangers 2-1 in front following Keith Lasley's opener for Motherwell.

Nine minutes from time, Fernando Ricksen was judged to have handled the ball in the area, allowing David Kelly to beat Stefan Klos with the penalty. Rangers defender Craig Moore was sent off for fouling Lasley.

Celtic overcame the loss of an early goal from China's World Cup captain Fan Zhiyi to defeat Dundee 3-1 at home. Second-half headers from Chris Sutton and John Hartson, either side of Henrik Larsson's 55th minute strike, secured a 14th successive league win for the champions.