RANGERS FIND SOME RESPITE

Five-star show gives Warburton comfort ahead of Dons clash

FOR Mark Warburton, this counted as a burst of sweet relief. After the ten days he has had, confident progress into the League Cup semi-finals was an achievement to be warmly embraced.

It provided a nice slice of stability amid the Joey Barton-led avalanche of events that followed a bruising Old Firm defeat. Barton certainly was not missed in the first game since his banishment was extended.

While this was a victory against a Championship side, albeit one topping that table, there was a slickness about the Rangers goals that would have left their manager smiling.

Crisp passing, clever movement, smart finishing. These were precisely the kind of moments that had too often been absent over the first half-dozen games of the Premiership season.

That campaign continues with Sunday’s eagerly anticipated visit to Pittodrie. A whole different level of intensity will await in Aberdeen, but Rangers can at least approach it with self-belief refreshed.

Martyn Waghorn struck a smartly acquired second-half hat-trick to seal a first win in four outings, adding to earlier strikes from Jason Holt and Andy Halliday. The latter had been made captain for the evening, as Lee Wallace missed out through a knock.

That could only be construed as a clear message of support from Warburton. It was Halliday who had stood up to Barton in last week’s training-ground row, at the start of a process that now looks set to lead to the end of the Englishman’s Ibrox career.

Amid the recent maelstrom, Chris Sutton had lambasted Warburton’s handling of that headline-dominating issue and claimed he could be two games from the sack. Sutton was at Ibrox on BT Sport duty to see the Rangers manager defy the prediction of an imminently swinging scythe.

Tomorrow’s semi-final draw could potentially throw up another Old Firm encounter — with Brendan Rodgers’ side facing Alloa this evening — but, for now, all eyes will be on Aberdeen. Another positive result there and Rangers could start to feel an awful lot better about themselves.

There was an extra oomph to the applause when Halliday’s name was read out pre-match as part of a tweaked line-up.

Lee Hodson replaced Wallace at left-back, while Matt Gilks was given a rare appearance in goal ahead of Wes Foderingham. Despite Philippe Senderos’ return from suspension, Clint Hill and Danny Wilson continued in central defence, following Saturday’s clean sheet against Ross County.

Josh Windass had been due to start as part of the midfield three but suffered an injury during the warm-up. The more experienced, if less dynamic, figure of Niko Kranjcar was promoted from the bench.

Selection was a simpler process for Queens boss Gavin Skelton. After a seventh straight win, there was no desire to mess with the formula.

He would have felt the same for the opening 33 minutes. Rangers, inevitably, had dominated possession to a huge degree. Yet Lee Robinson remained under-exercised. A flying punch to thwart a hazardous Kranjcar cross had been his highlight. Queens were compact and disciplined, sitting deep in a 4-4-1-1 shape to absorb the pressure. It was working. But then came a little move with the right mix of accuracy and urgency, and the opening goal that soothed the anxiety inside Ibrox.

Kranjcar’s passing had been surprisingly wayward at times in the first half, applying too much weight to his attempts to find advancing team-mates.

There was, however, nothing at all wrong with the ball he whipped in to Michael O’Halloran inside the area.

It put the Queens defence on the back foot, with the winger creating a further wobble as he darted past Jordan Marshall. A crisp, low cross was turned home by Holt at the near post.

This was the kind of goal Rangers regularly produced last season. Often, Holt was the man to provide the finishing touch.

His first strike of the current campaign gave his colleagues a visible lift. Within a couple of minutes, Hill’s header tested Robinson from a Kranjcar corner. The veteran knew he did not quite get his angles right.

Then Harry Forrester fed Hodson, who nimbly worked the ball onto his right foot. A curling shot evaded the junction of post and bar by inches. Some fluency had been found.

Warburton’s side entered the break with a solitary goal but that would have been accepted after their somewhat tentative start.

Queens fancied their chances of hurting Rangers on the break. Wilson was booked by referee Don Robertson for toppling Dale Hilson to end one such foray. That was where the punishment ended as Stephen Dobbie put the resulting free-kick high into the Copland Road stand.

Dobbie was, of course, once of this parish. Getting him more into the game always looked the key to a potential comeback for the Dumfries outfit.

He fired one angled drive across goal following the restart as Queens looked to impose themselves more. Andy Dowie had already seen a header from a Jamie Hamill corner deflected narrowly wide.

Not long after, hesitancy in the Rangers backline allowed Derek Lyle an opportunity to fire over the bar. A sense of frustration was beginning to resurface in the Ibrox stands.

It did not last long. Holt failed to reappear for the second period as Barrie McKay took his place. Initially, the change seemed to have lessened the home side’s control of midfield. But McKay would prove central to a rapid double that secured a place in the last eight.

With 62 minutes gone, he glided his way down the left flank before providing the perfect cutback for Halliday. A sweeping finish high into the net provided the ideal memento for the on-the-night skipper.

McKay was at it again a minute later. This time, the silver service was laid on for Waghorn. The striker matched the quality with his conversion, skilfully curling the ball beyond Robinson.

Waghorn’s second was not as flashy but it impressed nonetheless. Dabbing the ball home with the outside of his boot, he polished off a nice delivery from O’Halloran.

Kranjcar then helped create the hat-trick with a lovely flick inside the area. Waghorn shifted feet before despatching with aplomb.

Warburton will hope to see similar decisiveness in the days and weeks ahead.