Rangers bowed out of the Carling Cup at the second hurdle last night against Aston Villa at Villa Park. The 3-1 score line does not do justice to Holloway's charges who put up a hell of a fight and with some cooler heads in front of goal we could have been looking at a cup shock.

With the league clearly a priority Olly took the chance to give a run out to some of the people who have not been involved in recent weeks. Day was in goal behind a back four of Bignot, Shittu, Gnohere and Edghill. There were five across midfield in Cureton, Rowlands, Serge Branco, Johnson and Mcleod with Gallen ploughing a lone furrow up front.

Rangers started brightly and could easily have been two up in the first ten minutes. Firstly Cureton intercepted a poor throw out from Sorensen and his fierce effort was blocked away for a corner. From the resulting set piece the ball was cleared as far as Johnson and he hooked a right-footed effort across the face of the Villa goal.

It was seemingly all Rangers at this point with Villa and Vassell in particular seeming to get caught offside every time they ventured into the Rangers half. Gallen was next to come close with a shot on the turn that forced a save from Sorensen. He didn’t connect well though and you would have been stunned had the big Dane let this one squirm through his grasp. Rowly knocked one of his trademark freekicks over the bar soon after before Villa came within a whisker of going one up.

Nobby Solano stood over a freekick on the right and his delivery was as good as you would have expected. Juan Pablo Angel missed his header but Gareth Barry got in behind Bignot and nodded the ball narrowly over the bar. Soon after they did take the lead through a beautifully worked goal.

Rowlands gave the ball away cheaply in the middle of the park and before you knew it Villa were popping the passes around and six pass move saw England striker Darius Vassell in on Day’s goal. He calmly drew the R’s keeper before slotting past him with the outside of his right foot. Being a goal down was harsh on Rangers but it provided a good example of why you cannot allow players of this calibre the chance to start moving the ball freely.

Rangers nearly replied immediately when Kevin McLeod broke through the middle and tried to lift the ball over the towering Sorensen. His effort fell short of the goal though and the Villa defence easily saw away the danger. Rangers paid the ultimate price for this miss though as Villa went up the other end and added the second.

Marcus Bignot hammered Gareth Barry just outside the box and once again Solano delivered the freekick. The ball sailed over everybody and found the criminally unmarked Angel at the far post. The Colombian hitman made no mistake as he planted his header across Day and into the far corner. If being one down was harsh this was a positively brutal blow so close the half time whistle.

Jonno was hauled off at the break and replaced by Furlong as Olly switched to a 4-4-2 formation with Gallen partnering Branco in midfield and Furlong and Cureton in attack. The change paid immediate dividends as Villa’s lead was halved in farcical circumstances.

A hopeful punt upfield seemed to be causing little danger as Swede Olaf Mellberg took control. He attempted a pass back to Sorensen and they made a right balls up of it. The Villa keeper allowed the ball to run away from him and Kevin McLeod stole in to stab into the empty net.

Back came Villa though and right back De La Cruz set off on a buccaneering run into the Rangers half that ended with him smashing the ball against the base of Day’s right hand post. The chances for the R’s kept coming though as Shittu, Rowlands and Cureton all tried their luck without troubling Sorensen unduly.

Furlong then contrived to miss two sitters at a time when Rangers were almost totally dominant. Firstly poor control allowed Sorensen to get a hand onto an effort he should have had no chance with and then Curo’s cross found Furs with only Sorensen to beat but once again the Villa man came out on top.

At the other end of the field the lack of chances for Villa was in no small part down to an exceptional display from the returning Dan Shittu. The big man was immense and made England U21 powerhouse Carlton Cole look like a little boy when he chased him down and brushed him aside with ease. Dan had again managed to pick up a couple of knocks and was probably close to coming off before Gnohere picked up what looked like a serious injury.

As he cleared a ball Cole seemed to pull him over and his whole body weight looked to be transferred through his right knee. The big Frenchman was in agony and Prav was quickly on the scene and calling for the stretcher. Fellow Gaul Georges Santos replaced him and immediately got up to the pace of the game.

With a little over ten minutes left Villa added a brilliant third courtesy of their best player on the night, Nobby Solano. Shittu earned a caution for taking out Cole and from the freekick Solano bent a brilliant effort into the top corner giving Day no chance whatsoever. Having been at fault for one on Saturday I can safely say that Daisy didn’t have a prayer with this one.

Both teams had chances to add to the scoreline. Angel drew a great save from Day whilst at the other end Curo shot into the side netting when well placed. 3-1 was pretty harsh on Rangers but you got the impression that Villa had a couple more gears to go into should we have given them any more problems.

There were some good displays from Day, Bignot, Shittu, Cureton and Mcleod. Furs was lively when he came on and should have done better with a couple of chances. Gallen did well in midfield but never got to grips with the lone striker role in the first half. New boy Branco did little to inspire the fans although we should give him more than one game against Premiership opposition before we start to judge. Olly sees something in him and he should be spared the Santos treatment.

simon@qprnet.com