Gary McAllister has warned Rangers the pressure gauge will again be turned up to maximum when they head to Fir Park on Sunday.
The Light Blues this week faced two huge clashes just five days apart as they battled Celtic in the final of the Betfred Cup before taking on Young Boys to decide their Europa League fate.
Steven Gerrard was denied his first trophy since making the move into management as Rangers suffered Hampden heartache against the Hoops but his team picked themselves up off the floor to grab the point they needed to qualify for the last 32 in Europe.
McAllister admits the strain on the squad has been huge, but he knows there will be no respite this weekend as they take on Stephen Robinson’s high-flying Motherwell.
Rangers trail Neil Lennon’s champions by two points and the assistant boss confessed they cannot afford to give up any further ground against Well.
McAllister said: “Each game is as important as the next one. We’ve been trying to treat these games in isolation and focus on the next one in front of us.
“There was a wee bit of disappointment after the cup final but I thought we reacted well.
“There is a lot of mental pressure coming off the back of a loss in a final and then going into a European game where you had to get a result.
“But equally there are the same pressures going into Motherwell as we’ve got to keep chasing the team above us.”
Rangers will be without injured centre-back Filip Helander while midfielder Steven Davis remains a doubt having sat out this week’s crucial double-header.
Most of the team that were forced to run themselves into the ground to ensure Rangers’ Swiss opponents did not wreck their European campaign will have to go again this weekend but McAllister sees no reason to worry.
“We’ve had to cope with this Thursday-Sunday schedule a lot since coming to the club so I don’t see a problem with it,” he said.
“We have a deep squad and it will be a different kind of game.
“We have gone Aberdeen in the league, cup final and then last night’s European game and now we’re back to the bread and butter and it’s a very important game against Motherwell. We’ll be ready.
“I watched Motherwell recently. They are doing well, really well.
“It’s very clear in the last six to eight months that there has been a change in style. They have youth in there with legs and have gone more possession based.
“It will be a tough game but we will be prepared. Our due diligence will be the exact same as all the other games.”
