Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist on the waterlogged Lotte pitch

Ally McCoist has admitted to frustration after Rangers' friendly against Sportfreunde Lotte was postponed for a second time.

The waterlogged pitch at PGW Arena means Rangers' first game of their German tour will now be against Nuremburg on Sunday.

"It's a frustrating situation and it's not ideal," said the assistant boss.

"Unfortunately, we'll go into the match against Nuremburg without any game time under our belts."

The match against semi-professional side Lotte was first called off on Friday evening and the pitch was deemed still unplayable on Saturday.

McCoist described it as only a "minor hiccup" and agreed with the decision to call off the game following a thunderstorm.

"There's no way we could have played last night," he told Rangers' website.

We haven't been weakened too much and we've still got a very good squad at the club Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch

"The pitch looked magnificent from 20 or 30 yards away, but the goalmouths were drenched and it would have been very, very hazardous.

"There was then a bit more rain overnight and I don't think the pitch had improved at all."

Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson would have sat out the game in any case because of swelling in the knee to which he suffered cruciate ligament damage in November.

But he hoped to be ready for the match against Bundesliga side Nuremberg and the meeting with Wiedenbruck on Tuesday.

"I felt great on Friday morning when I first woke up, but there was a bit of fluid in it and it was a bit more puffy than usual," he said.

"That's because of the flight from Glasgow and it meant I wouldn't have played at Lotte."

Meanwhile, fellow midfielder Lee McCulloch is the latest Rangers player to insist that the lack of new signings this summer is not a concern for the Scottish champions.

There have been five departures from Ibrox as chairman David Murray cuts costs in light of the economic downturn, while title rivals Celtic have made three summer purchases.

"We haven't been weakened too much and we've still got a very good squad at the club," said McCulloch.

"The manager brought in a lot of good players last summer, such as Kyle Lafferty and Pedro Mendes.

"They came in and did a job, which is saying something when your first year at a new club is usually your hardest.

"Mo Edu was another one in that category and, after taking time to bed in last term, I think we'll see the best of them in the months ahead."

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