Ally McCoist has say on age and explains why he wasn't present for big Rangers win

Ally McCoist looked on in disbelief from the technical area in Bremen 14 years ago when Allan McGregor made a breathtaking save to defy Boubacar Sanogo during Rangers’ remarkable journey to the UEFA Cup Final.

But it comes as no surprise to McCoist, who was assistant manager to Walter Smith back in 2008, that McGregor is still pulling out the stops in Europe at the age of 40 when it matters most for Rangers.

The veteran goalkeeper has not been without his critics this season with errors in domestic fixtures prompting some Rangers fans to question whether he should still be their club’s number one.

McGregor provided the perfect answer to the doubters at Ibrox on Thursday night with his brilliant one-handed penalty save from Aleksandar Katai which helped Rangers forge a 3-0 first leg lead in their Europa League last 16 tie against Red Star Belgrade.

“Allan has been a fantastic goalkeeper,” said McCoist. “It doesn’t matter it you’re a goalkeeper or a centre forward, when you have a bad game at 36 or 39 people say it’s because of your age. You can understand them saying that.

"Yeah, Allan has probably had a couple of bad moments which have been uncharacteristic this season, he has made a couple of mistakes. But I have to inform you that he still made those mistakes at 19 and 29.

"It is easy to point the finger and say: ‘It’s his age!’ I don’t believe it is. His performance on Thursday was remarkable, it really was. His big hand for the penalty save is actually unbelievable. To make the save and get the hand to it was one thing, but the ball was struck fiercely. To get the power in his hand to push it away . . . I thought it was a tremendous save.

"He carried a wee bit of luck, which you need to, with a couple of the offside