GLASGOW (AFP) - Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist admitted the Ibrox side were lucky to still be in the Scottish Cup after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to First Division Partick Thistle.

The former Gers striker and club legend was furious with his players' performance against their city neighbours on Wednesday.

But McCoist admitted it could have been so much worse after the Jags had taken a sensational 67th minute lead through Damon Gray.

Fortunately for Rangers Kris Boyd managed to save at least some of the Gers' blushes, by scrambling home a quick reply less than two minutes later, but Walter Smith's assistant was still not satisfied.

McCoist said: "First and foremost I am delighted we're still in the Cup as we were very poor.

"There have been quite a lot of shocks in cups both north and south of the border and another one looked to be on the cards tonight when Thistle scored.

"Thankfully we are still in the competition and managed to get a goal back quickly. I'd like to congratulate Thistle and I thought they were terrific.

"But we were very poor in terms of creating chances in the final third of the park."

Rangers had made six changes to the team that started in the League Cup Final victory over Dundee United on Sunday, but McCoist was unwilling to use that as an excuse.

He said: "Having made six changes you could accept it might take time to get going but that's not an excuse for how badly we played.

"If we want to win cups and leagues then we have to be able to make changes and cope with that. Against Partick Thistle we didn't do that and it's not good enough.

"There was nothing wrong with our application and desire but our use of the ball was as poor as I've seen in a long time."

Despite being taken to a replay by the First Division side, Rangers are still in with a chance of a winning the domestic treble and are also in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

And McCoist was keen for the Ibrox club's supporters to maintain a sense of perspective.

He said: "The fans have a right to be angry after the game on Wednesday but once they calm down I'm sure they will appreciate that we are in a great position, top of the league, having won the League Cup and are still in the Scottish Cup."

Partick Thistle had stunned the Ibrox crowd in the 67th minute when Gary Rankins slid the ball through to Grey and he showed fantastic composure to bury it into the corner of the net. However, within two minutes Rangers were level.

Chris Burke's initial shot was blocked but the ball fell to Boyd who finally managed to scramble it across the line to take the tie to a replay at Firhill.

Thistle manager Ian McCall was delighted with his players but thought they could even have achieved an historic victory.

He said: "We played very well and a lot of the players came of age tonight. I'm very proud of them and our fans were unbelievable.

"I was disappointed we couldn't hold our lead for more than a few minutes. I thought it was a lucky goal for Rangers but Kris Boyd always seems to score lucky goals and that's why he's such a good striker.

"But I think if we had held on to our lead a bit longer we would have won the game. The tie is still not over though and we are a hard team to beat at Firhill."