STUART McCALL branded his Rangers side's display in the first leg of the SPFL Premiership play-off final the worst of his time in charge at Ibrox and conceded it will take a massive effort to bring the tie back to life.

Motherwell held a 3-0 lead at Ibrox after 47 minutes thanks to a Lee Erwin shot that took a late deflection off Darren McGregor, a glancing header from Stephen McManus and a crisp finish from Lionel Ainsworth.

An 82nd-minute header from McGregor gave Rangers a flicker of hope, but manager McCall cut a despondent figure as he reflected upon some desperate defending and a failure to keep possession. Tellingly, he refused to use tiredness from a breakneck run of fixtures as an excuse.

"I am hugely disappointed," said McCall. "I think that is probably as poor as we have been in possession of the ball since I have been at the club and it was frustrating.

"Motherwell hit us on the break well and played well. If they had played like that for most of the season, they would not have finished 11th.

"We gave the ball away cheaply at times. For the first goal, we defended really poorly and they got a little bit of luck with the shot from Lee Erwin that Cammy Bell would probably have saved until it hit Darren's foot.

"The second goal was real sloppy defending. It was a bread-and-butter set-piece and the third goal came from us giving the ball away near the edge of their box and them counter-attacking. From their point of view, it was a good goal, but sloppy from ours.

"I am just really frustrated that, of all the games, too many of us had off nights and Motherwell capitalised on that. We were edgy in possession and fatigue should not have had an effect because we had enough rest. We showed our worst side and I think Motherwell played as well as they have played in a long time.

"We have now got to spin that on its head. If we defend as poorly as we did tonight, we will be in trouble. We have to make sure we are better in possession of the ball and create more opportunities. Whoever is selected must give everything they can and have no regrets."

McCall admitted to a concern that his side would be caught on the counter again with the onus very much on them to push forward, but he believes they are in a situation where they have nothing to lose.

"We have to go out and have a real go," he said. "We know we are out at this stage. If it had been a cup final or a cup semi-final, we wouldn't have a second chance. We have a second chance and you have got to go and do everything you can.

"Darren's goal gives us a lifeline.Everyone will have Motherwell as clear favourites, but we will look at the scenario with Hibs and Hamilton last season when Hamilton went into that final game 2-0 down away from home. The first goal on Sunday will be crucial and we must aim to get that. It will be interesting if we get it."

Ainsworth had an opportunity to make it 4-0 for Motherwell on 66 minutes when putting a shot over the crossbar from close-range and accepts he probably should have put the tie beyond Rangers' reach.

"It feels like we've lost, but I think the mood's like that because we know it's only a job half done," said Ainsworth. "It is a good result, but we were disappointed with the goal we lost and we know we've got to go and put in another performance like that on Sunday and come out on top.

"I had the chance to score a fourth and I told the lads I was leaning back rather than getting my head over the ball, but that happens."

Ainsworth dedicated his goal and performance to Stanley Jenkins, a long-time family friend who passed away last Friday.

"I had a little prayer for him at the start of the game and I think he helped me out," said Ainsworth. "He was my friend's dad, a football man I'd known for many years. He'd have loved a game like this, so I think he was watching over us all. My goal was for him."

Ian Baraclough, the Motherwell manager, was delighted that a counter-attacking approach based on the pace of Ainsworth and Marvin Johnson paid such dividends, but warned his players that they would have to work every bit as hard in Sunday's return at Fir Park.

"To a man, the players were fantastic," he said. "We came with a gameplan, worked on shape and drawing them on because we knew we could counter at pace and I thought we did that fantastically well. We could have had one or two more as well, but I cannot fault them.

"They dealt with the crowd, the magnitude of the situation and scored three goals away from home. It doesn't surprise me because we have got good players.

"We wanted to go back to Fir Park with some sort of result and to have a two-goal lead is great, but we have got to work harder than we did tonight to make sure we get over the line."

McManus also issued a word of warning to his team-mates and Motherwell's jubilant fans. "We've given ourselves a half-decent chance, but football has got a terrible habit of kicking you in those gonads," he said.