RANGERS need a united front to extricate the club from "a difficult situation", Kris Boyd admitted last night.

The striker, who said he was lucky not to be sent off for a last-minute challenge in the defeat by Hearts on Sunday, conceded "it would be easy to throw in the towel and let Hearts win the league".

But he added: "We've got another challenge against Kilmarnock which we need to rise to. It is a difficult moment for us but it's time for us to regroup. It's time for everybody to stick together and we know if everybody sticks together we can get ourselves out of this."

The William Hill Scottish Cup match against Allan Johnston's side is an immediate chance for Rangers to recover from the defeat against Hearts that meant the Edinburgh side stretched nine points clear in the SPFL Championship.

Steven Smith was sent off, Kenny Miller was withdrawn after picking up a yellow card and Boyd was also cautioned after a reckless challenge on Brad McKay.

Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, the Ibrox striker said: "That was not like me. I was lucky to stay on the field. It's happened and we move on."

The Scotland internationalist was left out of the starting line-up against Hearts but said: "I can't complain because I have been given plenty of opportunities in the last few weeks. I haven't scored the amount of goals that I wanted to but it is a challenge now to get myself back in the starting line-up and hopefully that starts against Kilmarnock."

He also said manager Ally McCoist is not feeling any pressure despite coming in for criticism from a section of the travelling support in Edinburgh. "I don't think any stick is going to affect the manager," he said. "We know when you lose a game at Rangers it is a crisis."

McCoist, meanwhile, told Rangers TV: "It is important that we all get a balance. We absolutely believe there is still an opportunity we can win the league, don't worry about that. We have to be reflective but, at the same time, totally focused and positive."