Barry Ferguson responds to raging Rangers fan rant as he admits Michael Beale selection 'surprise' at Kilmarnock

Barry Ferguson isn't hitting the panic button after Rangers defeat to Kilmarnock but was 'surprised' by one Michael Beale selection call.

The Ibrox side fell to an opening day loss to Derek McInnes' side after Brad Lyons struck following a penalty area scramble, consigning Beale and his new-look team to no points on the Premiership curtain raiser. They watched as rivals Celtic saw off Ross County on their Flag Day, but five of the London boss' nine new summer arrivals featured at Rugby Park, with the likes of Abdallah Sima, Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers coming in for criticism post-match.

Yet Record Sport columnist Ferguson responded to one irate Light Blues fan who called in to Go Radio to warn that the former QPR boss must seal Champions League group stage progression and beat Celtic on the Old Firm opener on September 3 or the writing will be on the wall for his Ibrox future. The ex-Rangers captain knows there is a long way to go, but admits he was stumped by Beale's decision to leave popular star Todd Cantwell on the bench at the weekend.

He told Go Radio: "There was a couple of surprising selections that I thought would have started. I thought Ryan Jack would have come in beside Raskin to free him up a bit more to anchor the midfielder. And obviously Cantwell, he's been a big player no doubt, one of the bright sparks of last season. It was interesting to see he left him out.

"I was surprised he left him out [Cantwell]. He's impressed me since coming up the road from Norwich, the first month it took him a bit of time but to get up to speed but he has been one of Rangers' bright sparks. I heard his press conference after it [Beale], the reason why was to bring him on in the last 25 minutes when the game would open