FORMER Blackburn midfielder Barry Ferguson has admitted his poor form is partly to blame for Rangers' disastrous start to the season.

The Ibrox skipper, who left Rovers under a dark cloud in January, knows results have simply not been good enough for a team who are supposed to be defending the title but have plummeted to fifth in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

However, instead of turning on Ferguson and his under-performing team-mates, the fans have laid the blame firmly at the door of manager Alex McLeish, who was under pressure to quit until Tuesday night's Champions League draw with Inter Milan earned him a stay of execution.

But Ferguson has leapt to McLeish's defence, saying: "The gaffer can only put out the team that he thinks can win the game and we've not been doing that.

"I'll certainly hold my hands up and say I've not played the way I can. And I think if you ask any of the other players, they will do the same."

Ferguson was also a major disappointment at Rovers, too, rarely living up to the expectations the fans had, and the way he engineered his return to Rangers, barely a month after claiming he was loving life at Ewood, left a bitter taste.