THE word crisis was first mentioned, albeit in soft tones, when Rangers last met Falkirk and lost their second and until now last defeat in the league.

It wasn’t a crisis, more a concern, and the players since then have without being perfect moved up a gear and look a far better side, certainly more organised in certain areas, than the one defeated that day.

Lee Wallace, club captain and consistency robot, believes that loss gave the squad a not-so-gentle reminder that they weren’t playing so great and while huge changes were not required, a tweak here and there was.

"The training has been really consistent,” said Wallace. “The levels we've hit in the last three or four weeks have been very high and it is up to us to keep going with the continuity. We need to do it day in, day out and week in, week out until the end of the season.

“After that defeat at Falkirk, we got together and looked at our shape. The manager talks a lot about the pitch geography, basically meaning our positions on the pitch and maintaining our shape.

“During that period, the perceived dip, we were losing our shape a bit and becoming easy to play against, certainly on the counter-attack and it's definitely something we have rectified on the training pitch and the analysis room. We've got together and we've got sorted out with potential counter-attacks and sorted our shape defensively while we are attacking.

“We all know we can attack because of the amount of goals we have and the amount of possession we have, but it's equally important for us to be defensively structured while we attack. So I think we have got that balance and we're looking to take that form on for Saturday."

Falkirk under the shrewd management of Peter Houston look good for a play-off place, they are seven points behind Rangers, and will probably need three points from Ibrox to retain hopes of actually winning the Championship.

Although Wallace is not so sure that anything will be decided with so much football still to be played.

“I don't think this game will define first, second or third,” said the Rangers captain. “It's another tough challenge because they took the points off us the last time but equally they are just another opponent who stands in our way. We're looking forward to the game.

"It's been well documented that Falkirk have just gone about their work quietly and going under the radar. The spotlight has been on ourselves and Hibs. But credit to Falkirk and Morton too because they have certainly made life difficult with their style.

“Falkirk carry a threat, but we know if we play to our ability we will be fine; anything less and that's where we cause ourselves problems."

It has been said that no society is more than three meals away from revolution. In Scottish football, a riot is only one misjudged goal celebration away. Or so some would have you think.

Rangers and Andy Halliday have not quite moved on from Monday night's game at Morton and the midfielder’s second yellow card, which keeps him out of today’s match and there was no route the club could go down to contest the decision by young referee Barry Cook.

It was all a bit silly, Halliday’s fist pump was hardly offensive unless you are the sort who finds the ‘comedy’ Miranda a bit racy. He was also some way away from the Morton supporters.

“You can understand both sides,” said Wallace who spoke to the officials after the match. “The police came in earlier in the season and discussed the safety aspect of celebrating a goal, which we do know, but equally it is important you show a passion for your players, the manager and, of course, support. It’s about finding that balance.

“I was unhappy at the ref and was moaning at him as the game went on, I was biting away at him because I wanted to speak to him. I did apologise to him at the end of the game once I had asked the procedure because I need to go back to Andy to tell him what he could learn from it.”

It will be interesting to see if the Rangers players have been practicing goal celebrations at Murray Park.