We Settled In To Tonight’s Game Well

GOALKEEPER Lewis Budinauckas felt Rangers settled into this evening's game as they beat Alloa Athletic 3-2 in the SPFL Trust Trophy.

It was a strong performance from the B team against the League One side, with Juan Alegria's hat-trick securing their place in the quarter-finals.

Speaking to RangersTV at full-time Budinauckas said: "I think we started quite slow going down 1-0 early on which wasn't ideal for us but we grew into the game and we got used to the big pitch.

"It was hard for us to press the ball but once we got a hang of that we started playing a bit more football and it was good. They had a bit more of the ball in the first half than what we would like so we just tweaked a couple of things at half-time and I felt in the second-half we dominated the ball."

Barry Ferguson's Alloa were searching for an equaliser late in the game and Budinauckas was pleased with the way the squad defended to see out the tie.

He continued: "They had a go late on and Adam Devine had a great tackle at the end. There were a couple of other little moments towards the end of the game but we defended really well today, although we did lose the two goals which we aren't delighted with but it is something to fix next time."

Rangers will face a trip to Cove Rangers in the next round of the competition and the goalkeeper says the squad are looking forward to another opportunity to test themselves.

He said: "We are really looking forward to it, it is a competition we want to do well in. It is a good level of competition for us as young players getting to play against experienced professionals higher up the leagues so it will be a good challenge.