Kris Boyd kept Rangers' title bid alive when he fired his side to a 1-0 win at Falkirk.
Rangers end difficult week with a win to keep them in title hunt
Kris Boyd ensured Rangers' title aspirations remained intact when he fired his side to narrow 1-0 win over bottom of the table Falkirk.
Walter Smith's side were made to work for their win but got off to a flyer when the 25-year-old striker shot past Castro Dani Mallo after nine minutes.
The result ended a difficult week for the Ibrox side on a more positive note and more importantly kept them three points behind leaders Celtic.
Meanwhile, Falkirk will be boosted by their performance after going behind but the result means that they remain three points from safety.
With usual No.1 Allan McGregor and skipper Barry Ferguson dropped after their behaviour while on international duty, Neil Alexander started between the sticks and David Weir returned from injury and took the captain's armband.
Fellow defender Madjid Bougherra also returned from injury while Nacho Novo and John Fleck found themselves in the starting line-up.
Rifle home
With the first real attack of the game, Pedro Mendes slipped the ball through to Novo on the left, who did well to cut the ball back for Boyd to rifle home his 25th goal of the season from six yards with just nine minutes gone.
To their credit, Falkirk tried to hit back immediately and had a lot of play but they struggled to transform that possession into clear-cut chances, with Alexander rarely troubled in the Rangers goal in the opening spell.
A lack of understanding between Novo and Boyd then cost Rangers the chance of a second goal.
Mendes delivered a lovely pass to Novo who raced into the box - but he and Boyd attempted to unleash the shot at the same time and Falkirk were able to clear the danger.
Novo had the opportunity to make amends when he found himself in plenty of space in front of goal but he took one touch too many and Jackie McNamara was able to successfully block the effort.
Falkirk's Thomas Scobbie saw a well-struck low shot flash wide of the upright while Burton O'Brien sent a 25-yard volley dipping over the crossbar before Carl Finnigan went close with a volley.
Missed chances
At the other end, Rangers could have doubled their lead when Dani Mallo failed to gather a Mendes corner and Boyd volleyed over from just five yards out.
The last thing Rangers need at the moment is more injuries and they were dealt a blow when Lee McCulloch limped out of the action with 15 minutes to go and was replaced by Maurice Edu.
Another substitute, Steven Naismith, could have killed off any hope of a late Falkirk comeback when he threw himself in front of a Steven Whittaker cross from the right only to nod off target.
Mendes then sent a blistering long distance shot screaming over the crossbar as Rangers attempted to make the points safe.
As the game headed into the last ten minutes, Falkirk claimed a penalty when Whittaker appeared to push Michael Higdon in the box but the pleas were ignored by referee Iain Brines as Rangers held on for the win.
