Rangers' hopes of striding confidently into their derby clash with arch rivals Celtic in midweek suffered a blow on Saturday with a shock 2-1 defeat away to St Mirren.
Rangers began their 20th game of the campaign with a four-point lead on Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premier League and got off to a great start when Lee Wallace gave the visitors an 11th-minute lead in Paisley with his first goal for the club.
However things went from bad to worse for Ally McCoist's side, who went in at the half-time interval 2-1 down after losing Lee McCulloch to a red card in the 24th minute for violent conduct.
And St Mirren took full advantage, with Aaron Mooy equalising for the Buddies in the 44th minute. Paul McGowan then gave the hosts a deserved lead two minutes into first-half injury time to give Rangers a half-time headache.
Rangers re-emerged in determined fashion but despite dominating possession for long periods the champions were unable to break down the St Mirren defence.
And their push for an equaliser came apart when Dorin Goian was sent off for his second bookable offence of the game with less than 10 minutes remaining.
In the event of victory over Kilmarnock later on Saturday, Celtic will see their deficit to Rangers drop to just one point ahead of Wednesday's clash at Celtic Park.
Source: AFP
