FORMER Ibrox boss Alex McLeish knows what it’s like when the blueprint doesn’t go to plan, the points aren’t collected, and the doubters have to be won over and the critics silenced.

Current Govan gaffer Pedro Caixinha now finds himself in that very situation – one with which McLeish is familiar from his own high-pressure days at the helm at Ibrox.

On the opening day of the SPL campaign back in 2002, McLeish’s side were held to a draw at Kilmarnock to deny the Ibrox side a perfect league start. After Celtic got off and running with victory over Dunfermline, their city rivals were written off in some quarters. One campaign later, McLeish toasted a treble.

Caixinha has already suffered what he no doubt will hope is the worst defeat of the season after Rangers were humiliated in Luxembourg and a league loss to Hibernian won’t be greeted with the same level of scrutiny or criticism.

But McLeish knows the Portuguese will be determined to get back to winning ways quickly and get back on track after an early league reverse.

“Rangers losing to Hibs is a bit of a blow, but Rangers losing any game at Ibrox is a blow,” he said.

“That is to do with the expectations of the Rangers supporters. It doesn’t matter if you are from Glasgow, England, Portugal, wherever, you are fair game when you don’t win as Rangers manager.

“I had players that I trusted. It is always a very stressful time in any dugout but when you have got players that you feel you can trust it is a different ball game. That draw at Kilmarnock was a minor setback. I had brilliant players in the dressing room but it was still early in the season and we were finding the rhythm as a team. We ended up winning the league. You just have to keep your nerve and keep your powder dry.

“You don’t have to talk in the media in terms of saying this cost you or that cost you, you just need to focus on stringing victories together and getting everybody on side.”

The defeat to Neil Lennon’s side at the weekend may have come in controversial circumstances but it was a setback Rangers could have done without after an encouraging couple of weeks.

Wins over Watford and Sheffield Wednesday helped supporters move on from the memories of Progres, while league and cup successes against Motherwell and Dunfermline were welcomed and deserved.

The visit of Hearts this weekend is a chance to regain momentum before matches with Ross County and Dundee and a double-header with Partick Thistle before the first Celtic encounter of the season.

Much of the aftermath on Saturday surrounded Ryan Jack’s red card, the performance of referee John Beaton, and the touchline antics of Hibs boss Neil Lennon. But amid the background noise and headlines, the job in hand remains the same for Caixinha.

“I can’t talk for other people, but personally I tried not to read things or take in any negativity,” McLeish said. “You had to be aware of what was going and what was being said but you don’t immerse yourself in it.

“As a coach or a manager, you walk on to the training field on the Monday and, because of what you have read, you are there with that negativity. I tried to distance myself from that side of it so that I could focus on the team.

McLeish added: “Pedro is in a great position and at an amazing club. It is a club that demands to win every week and there are probably only six to 10 in the world that have those demands, and Rangers are one of them. You have to be prepared for that.”