KENNY McDOWALL last night admitted that his misfiring Rangers side is in serious danger of being caught by Falkirk and Queen of the South and knocked out of the play-off spots altogether in the SPFL Championship.

 

McDowall, who has not yet spoken to the new board about his future in the caretaker-manager role, saw his side struggle to a 1-1 draw at home to Queens when conceding a cheap 86th minute to 17-year-old Aidan Smith after Haris Vuckic had given them the lead late in the second half.

Rangers, who welcomed their greatest-ever player John Greig back into the Directors' Box along with legendary manager Walter Smith and Nine-In-A-Row stalwart John Brown, have now won just one match out of their last seven and recorded just three victories from 10 fixtures under McDowall's watch.

They remain six points clear of the Dumfries side in third place and seven clear of Falkirk, but McDowall insisted that his players have to rectify this recent run of form when being asked whether there was a danger of them being caught before the end of the season.

"There is every chance," he warned. "Queen of the South are a good side, as are Falkirk.

"They are playing for the play-offs as much as we are, so we can't be disrespectful of them "We've got to work harder to turn it round.

"I think it's going to go right to the wire, the play-off places, without a shadow of a doubt.

"We have to find a formula to get winning games again, We are stuttering along.

"We're not doing enough in front in goal and, obviously, not doing well enough to defend our goal.

"It's very disappointing, when supporters have come out, the new board is in place and the stadium is full.

"You get the lead, you are hoping to see it out and you don't do it through poor, poor defending."

McDowall insists he has had no contact with the new board about his employment status since Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan took control of the club at an extraordinary general meeting last Friday.

"I would expect them to come to me, as opposed me going to them," said McDowall, who is working a 12-month notice period after resigning.

"I've got games to concentrate on with the team and I'm here to do that.

"I'm sure if the board want to keep me, they'll come and speak to me."

Rangers replaced Lee Wallace, suffering from a stomach problem, towards the end and face a sweat to see if Haris Vuckic faces any kind of retrospective action over an alleged elbow on Iain Russell towards the end of the match.

"I didn't see it," said James Fowler, the Queen of the South manager.

"You can never tell with Iain Russell. Sometimes, he gets whacked and will roll about. He maybe did catch him, though.'

Fowler believes the draw was the very least his side deserved from their trip to Glasgow and feels they could easily have walked away with the three points.

"We were a wee bit unlucky not to win, but, when you go a goal down with not much time left, you've got to be happy with a point," he said.

"Although Rangers started well enough, we showed our quality and the fact that there were a few boos at half-time told its own story.

"It would have been a travesty had we not got anything out of it. We were the better team and had the better chances."

Fowler also paid a backhanded compliment to young Smith following his moment in the spotlight.

"He's not the brightest, let's put it that way, but, if you don't give him too many instructions, his football instincts are good," he said.

Smith raced to the away end to seek out his father, Gary, but wishes his mother, Jane, had been there too.

"It was the best feeling ever," he said. "My dad was in the crowd and my mum was meant to be here, but she cancelled. She will be gutted about that now."