We may not be top dogs but we can recover, says Boyd

He now hopes the 4-2 humbling against Hearts will not result in a lingering headache for the rest of the team.

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The result was enough to knock Rangers off the top spot in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and Celtic gleefully replaced their rivals as league leaders with a 5-0 pounding of Inverness hours later.

Having suffered the first real setback of the latest Walter Smith era, Rangers now face the challenge of proving they are made of stronger stuff than the team who would have folded under Paul Le Guen 12 months ago.

Wednesday's Champions League group stage opener at home to Stuttgart provides the ideal opportunity to demonstrate an ability to compete on all fronts.

"I'll be fine for the game," said Boyd, who was involved in a clash of heads at the half-time whistle on Saturday. "Some folk maybe wish I was concussed," he added wryly, in a reference to his critics this term.

"We have to raise our game or else we will be embarrassed on a world stage so it is up to us to show that we are good team and bounce back from a disappointing performance.

"We're confident. We have done well to reach there. When you look at the teams we are playing against, there is nothing to lose. If we give it our best shot, anything can happen."

Rangers' 100 per cent record was ripped to shreds inside 26 minutes in the capital. That is how long it took for Hearts to turn the defence inside out and establish a comfortable lead through Andrew Driver and Ibrahim Tall.

A Daniel Cousin penalty despatched coolly from 12 yards provided a glimmer of hope before Michael Stewart and Kestutis Ivaskevicius wrapped up the points. DaMarcus Beasley's late strike was scant consolation.

"You know inside yourself that a day like this is going to happen one day," admitted Boyd. "Hopefully we can recover. We conceded more goals today than we have all season.

"You have days like that. You don't want them but it happens. We have a chance to rectify it on Wednesday night and there is no bigger platform than the Champions League. We can show we are still a quality team."

Champions League games against Lyon and Barcelona will be enough to motivate any player, while a third round CIS Insurance Cup tie against East Fife represents one of the more mundane aspects of domestic duty in the coming weeks.

For the Scots in the team, the weeks and months ahead also mean more crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers. All this and an SPL title race points to what will surely be a frazzled Rangers side come the turn of the year.

"We will be ready for Wednesday night, that takes care of itself," said Boyd. "But, if you want to be title contenders, it's places like this [Tynecastle] you need to come to and grind out results, even after international travel.

"It's pretty hectic right through to January now. But, if you want to play at a club this size and be an international player, you need to cope with it."