RANGERS enjoyed some seasonal goodwill from the fates, although Hearts will be wondering what they did to be left out, after a late, late goal by Jorg Albertz, deflected by the heel of Steven Pressley, snatched three points for the home side at Ibrox last night.The game seemed destined for a draw, rather dampening the celebrations of Ibrox Stadium's centenary, when Albertz struck. The goalscorer was not in any mood for condolences, either.''It is very difficult to get through against a team playing as defensively as they did - they didn't even try to come forward - so it was nice to get the goal in the last minute,'' he said. ''I admit I was watching the clock in the stadium. They played very well in defence and there was very little space for us. The condition of the pitch made it tough as well.''It was three vital points for us especially when we have to face Celtic on Monday. Now we know

that they can not go above us before the winter break, but we will be going there to win in any case. ''My goal did take a slight deflection but you have to have a bit of luck now and then. If you run at a team for 90 minutes it is very frustrating, and that is why we had such a celebration when I scored. A lot of the pressure was taken off us. I found it hard to breathe.''Manager Dick Advocaat had no criticism for his players, despite the fact that they very nearly failed to secure a victory on their own pitch.''I'm still pleased with the way we played and worked, because it is so difficult to play a team as well organised as they were. It was very hard to find any open space and you always have to be concerned that you will get caught on the break.''Our concentration was excellent and, when we made our substitutions, we had five forwards and just two defenders. You can't do more than that

to try and win a game. What pleased me was that the team tried to play football and didn't try to thump the ball up the park as they might have been tempted to do in the circumstances.''The goal was late but it was one we really deserved and, if a team defends as deep as Hearts did, you can lose that kind of goal - a deflection because they have surrounded their goalkeeper. We took risks and it paid off. It was a very important win before the game on Monday but already people are talking about that game as deciding something. But we have 17 games to go and it is still going to be a long season.''Hearts manager Jim Jefferies was understandably dejected. ''That was a tough break. With only 20 seconds to go you feel you've made it. We had a few harsh words with the players before the game and I looked for a response. I felt I got it.''We were well organised and we were knew that a lot of people

felt we would get a doing here tonight. We were determined not to let that happen and, in fact, Niemi did not have a save to make. He was unfortunate because the goal deflected off Pressley's heel.''We worked hard to stop them and hit back ourselves. I felt that Murray and Leclercq did well against their strikers and Petric looked comfortable in the middle of the park.''The main thing for us is that tonight we showed a lot of the togetherness that has been missing and I was pleased with the way we competed.''None the less, Hearts have now lost three games in succession and, as they found last season, once a run like that sets in - they have won only once in 10 league matches - it is difficult to get out of it.Hearts could use a win against Motherwell on Monday to lift their mood as they head into the winter break in the Algarve. But the Fir Park side, after having lost heavily to Rangers

at the weekend, are just as anxious to restore their own confidence before they leave for the same part of Portugal on their sunshine break.