ALLY McCoist believes Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace will want to meet Dave King to discuss the possibility of him investing at Ibrox.

King has said he wants to put money into the club - despite losing his £20m investment when oldco Rangers was liquidated in 2012 - but has had no contact from the current board of directors since before last month's annual general meeting. Wallace is desperately trying to find ways to stem Rangers losses of nearly £1m-a-month and is on day 37 of his 120-day review of the club's business.

Rangers' failure to make contact with King so far will be seen as reluctance by the board - James Easdale, David Somers, Norman Crighton, Brian Stockbridge (prior to his departure yesterday) and Wallace - to engage with a wealthy fan/ investor whose involvement could lead to their own power being diluted. But McCoist said he expected Wallace to explore all investment avenues given the club's current circumstances, and that would include approaching King.

"The chief executive has said that he is certainly looking for future investment," said McCoist. "I can't speak for Graham but if there was a potential investor, Dave King or whoever, it's safe to say Graham would sit down and talk to them.

"I'm delighted Dave is still interested in the club. Same for [former director] Paul Murray and [former owner and chairman] Sir David Murray because they are people whose opinions will be valued by Rangers supporters. We have always said you never leave the club, you always watch and take an interest. I'm delighted Dave, Paul and Sir David have the club's interests at heart.

"Dave [King] has opinions which a lot of Rangers fans would obviously listen to. I don't have any doubt that our chief executive has ideas of what he wants to do, and plans. Graham asked for 120 days and, after that period, he will, more than anyone, have an idea of where we want to be and how we are going to get there. I would leave the decisions that affect our club at this particular moment in time to the chief executive of the board."

McCoist and Wallace met on Thursday and again yesterday to further discuss possible savings, a week after the chief executive's idea of a 15% cut to the players' wages was rejected by the squad. No alternative proposals have emerged so far.

Meanwhile, McCoist echoed the sentiments of his captain Lee McCulloch, who praised the standard of football in SPFL League 1. McCulloch had said there was not a great deal of difference between the level of third-tier football and that in the Premiership. That view was dismissed by Celtic manager Neil Lennon and captain Scott Brown yesterday, among others, but McCoist backed McCulloch's position.

"The standard in the lower leagues has vastly improved over the years," said McCoist. "The majority of talking points surrounding our game come from the top-flight and international games but I do think lower-league football is vastly improved for a number of reasons. Gone are the days of old, unfit boys finishing their careers there. The standard of younger lads dropping down trying to get an opportunity to go back up is improving. It's made up of fit young guys and also older guys who take pride in their fitness and performance.

"I could give you the names of a dozen players in League 1 who had the opportunity to go full-time, but it wasn't financially viable for them. Of course we are fitter than part-time teams. We should be, because we train and prepare every day. It must give you an advantage. My point would be that our levels of fitness and approach have not come down [since playing in a higher division].

I definitely think other clubs have raised the bar, rather than us dropping it down."

Rangers are 20 points clear at the top of

League 1 having won 20, and drawn the other,

of their 21 matches. They face Arbroath at Ibrox today. Despite the statistics, McCoist and the side have been criticised for playing pedestrian, dour football. "As I have said all along, the most important thing is to win games and continue a natural progression up through the leagues," he said

"The next thing is entertaining people, putting bums on seats and giving value for money, but I would suggest the goals we have scored might say we are doing well in that department, too."

Jon Daly said the Rangers players had agreed

not to publicly discuss why they had turned down Wallace's suggested 15%. Daly's more immediate concern is a run of six games without a goal.

He explained: "I don't know what's changed from earlier, I can't put my finger on it. Sometimes you just go through spells as a striker. These things

do come round and you just try to ride it out and, hopefully, I can get back on the scoresheet on Saturday and go on a little run."