The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sloppy Rangers left to rue missed chances
Rangers boss Mark Warburton admits his sloppy side need to find a better level of consistency after watching them slip up again yesterday.
The Ibrox side were held to a draw at Ross County, meaning they have now dropped points seven times in just 12 games.
Clint Hill nodded them ahead after just seven minutes before Kenny Miller and Joe Garner wasted chances to extend their lead.
Those misses came back to haunt Warburton when County captain Andrew Davies levelled midway through the opening period.
In the end, the Light Blues were left to cling on for a point as the Staggies surged forward looking for a winner to climb off the bottom of the table in the last few minutes and Gers now drop to third place in the Premiership just a week after they moved up to second.
The result is yet more frustration for Warburton after his side failed to match the slick display they managed against Kilmarnock eight days earlier.
He said: “We were looking for the three points – it’s two points dropped and that’s no disrespect to County.
“We weren’t playing as well as we wanted to play but we had chances in the first half. You can’t give up opportunities like that.
“If we get a consistent high level of performance then the results will come. You are where you are. We dropped two points by being sloppy and not clinical enough.”
Miller and Garner were both set clean through on County goalkeeper Scott Fox but neither found the back of the net.
“We got the early goal and then we had six counter-attacks that we had to take advantage of and get ourselves out of sight,” added Warburton.
“It wasn’t a good level of performance in terms of moving the ball quickly and decision-making. The second half was much like the first.”
County boss Jim McIntyre was unhappy with the display of referee Andrew Dallas but could not fault the way his side performed.
He said: “I think we deserved that point. We put so much into the game today. We asked the players to be brave and play on the front foot and they did.
“We were really frustrated to concede from the first corner but when you’ve been on a run like we have, some teams can crumble.
“We certainly didn’t. We worked our way back into the game, scored a really good goal and had other real good opportunities where we could have made more of them had we taken a wee bit more care.
“I thought the referee made some strange decisions – that’s the best way I can put it.
“But I don’t want to make too much of his performance. I’d rather talk more about my team’s display, which I thought was fantastic.”