The French frontman came off the bench against Lyon and missed a clear chance to equalise in the closing stages of the Group E match at Ibrox last night.

Rangers needed only a draw to advance and if Darcheville had cancelled out Sidney Govou's opener, rather than smash his close-range shot off the top off the crossbar, they would have had barely 10 minutes to hold out for the point.

Fellow substitute Naismith said: "Darch's miss would have changed everything but that's football.

"Some will say it was a bad miss but we are right behind him. We win as a team and lose as a team. Nobody is pointing fingers at him."

Rangers were punished in the closing stages as they pushed for a leveller, with Karim Benzema scoring twice to increase Lyon's winning margin to 3-0.

Defender Sasa Papac admitted Rangers had been second best and Lyon would have been unlucky not to win the match.

"Lyon were better and it was a fair result," said Papac.

"I don't know why we were so flat, maybe the pressure."