Gary Bollan was pleased with his side's performance as he reflected on his first game in charge of Airdrieonians.

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The Diamonds lost 3-0 to Rangers at Ibrox on Friday night in the third round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

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Striker Jon Daly bagged a brace for the Light Blues with substitute David Templeton adding a third goal late-on.

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However, Bollan was encouraged with what he saw from the touchline and saluted the effort and commitment of his team as he starts life at New Broomfield.

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"I'm taking a lot of positives out of this game," he said. "We set out with a gameplan and the lads worked hard for each other.

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"I thought we were great defensively in the first half and we had a few good blocks.

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"In the second half, we switched off on a couple of occasions and when you do that at Ibrox, against Rangers who are a quality side, you get punished.

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"We wanted to go there and do our best. We were facing Rangers who are playing really well and scoring lots of goals, especially at home. We tried to hold out for as long as we could."

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Airdrie will travel to Rangers again this Saturday on SPFL League One business.

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But they must do without injured defenders Chris O'Neil – who is suffering from a sports hernia – and Grant Evans who has ankle ligament damage. On-loan Rangers keeper Scott Gallacher is also missing as he is ineligible.