He might have been furious or at the very least somewhat irritated by what he had just been told but instead Stuart McCall bounced in to greet the media with a cheery grin yesterday and an apology for tardiness, blaming the fact that his meeting had overrun on having to use a Betamax DVD (sic).

Clearly the break he has had since he admitted to suffering stress-induced sleepless nights when at Motherwell has done the job because the contrast with the world-weariness which afflicted immediate predecessor Kenny McDowall and even before that the normally irrepressible Ally McCoist, underlined just why this appointment was probably the best thing the new Rangers board could have done.

To be confronted by the sort of a situation which occurred yesterday when told by broadcasters that a player who is officially on his books was listed as available to play for another team without him knowing anything about it, might have been interpreted as provocative or calculatedly undermining.

However while he admitted to bemusement McCall was determinedly unflustered since, with the simple remit of getting the club he once helped win nine consecutive titles return to the top flight in the next three months, he evidently knows there is no point in allowing himself to be weighed down by matters that are outwith his immediate control.

He was, of course, keen to establish the true state of health of Shane Ferguson, who was named in Northern Ireland's squad in spite of having been permanently listed as injured since his loan from Newcastle to Rangers was announced in January.

The subsequent clarification from Michael O'Neill, the Northern Ireland boss, that the invitations to his squad were issued a fortnight ago and that he will not be selecting the player unless he is cleared as fit by Rangers, will have done no harm, but in any case McCall was determined to find positives.

Two days earlier he had seemed resigned to the fact that four of the famous five Newcastle loanees would not be available to him this season, but he welcomed the possibility that he may have been wrong in the case of Ferguson and, perhaps, Kevin Mbabu and Remie Street, the prognosis may not be as bad as feared.

"As manager you've got to listen to your physios and the medical team," was his caveat, however.

"At the moment I would say they're well away from being available. If that changes then obviously that will be good for the club, giving us more options."

He knows he needs them after a run of matches that should have helped Rangers re-discover some form, but has failed to do so.

The day after the new board was put in place a trip to Cowdenbeath, beaten 10 nil the previous week, produced a 0-0 draw; three days later the homecoming at Ibrox, attended by so many of the club's grandees who had previously been staying away, saw a lead relinquished as another draw was registered against Queen of the South; and there was more of the same two days after McCall's appointment had been announced when they met lowly Livingston on Saturday.

Rarely has a Rangers team needed a win more, having achieved only one in their past eight matches.

"We've got a few short-term goals. We've got to get a win on the board, we've got to try to go out and be as positive as we can against Alloa," McCall said of tonight's match.

"At the moment most people are writing Rangers off and Hibs are flying and the other teams are winning and stuff like that, so we've got to accept that, but football can change very quickly.

"We know we need to get ourselves into the play-off positions which we're in at the moment, keep in there and we've got to go into those play-offs with momentum with some wins and confidence behind us, because if you get into the play-offs you're then playing cup football, knockout football, two-leg football and anything can happen there."

He intends to take a look at most of his squad over the next few weeks as he seeks to achieve that but injuries to Seb Faure (knee), Haris Vuckic (hamstring/calf) and perhaps Stevie Smith (stiff back) are forcing his hand tonight, while Cammy Bell is at last back in the mix.

That his players are grasping the implications of their situation was, meanwhile, articulated by one of the few who has a contract that extends beyond the summer as Nicky Clark acknowledged: "Without a doubt, we're all playing for our futures. Obviously the gaffer has just come in and he is going to have his ideas.

"You need to impress - even boys like myself, who are in contract. I want to go and show I'm good enough to stay here and hopefully get a longer contract."