Rangers ease to victory

A double from Ferguson and Nacho Novo's strike clinched the three points at the Caledonian Stadium.

The win sets Rangers up for next week's Champions League qualifier against FK Zeta in Montenegro, with the Ibrox side leading 2-0 from the first leg.

Rangers started the game brightly and were ahead through Ferguson after 16 minutes as he latched onto a long ball from Allan McGregor and unleashed a superb, left-footed volley which cracked off the inside of the post and into the back of the net from 20 yards.

Kris Boyd had the chance to silence his critics following his poor performance against Zeta when Ferguson released him into the box, but the luckless striker was denied by the woodwork for the second time in four days as his effort rattled off the crossbar.

As half-time approached Brahim Hemdani swung the ball to Carlos Cuellar and the centre-half - who netted in a pre-season friendly against Ajax - was denied his first competitive goal when Mike Fraser parried wide.

Boyd had suffered a knock in the first half and, clearly still struggling, was replaced by Novo three minutes after the restart, with the Spaniard playing on the right and Lee McCulloch pushed further forward through the middle.

Rangers dominated the play early on but were finding it difficult to convert possession before finding the back of the net again just after the hour.

McCulloch did well to hold off two defenders to meet a long goal kick, before squaring into the path of the onrushing Novo, whose thunderous strike from just inside the box left Fraser with no chance.

With time fast running out, Richard Hart tried his luck with a drive for the hosts which deflected wide, before Dennis Wyness saw an angled effort held by Allan McGregor. However, Rangers ran out comfortable winners when Ferguson sent a cheeky lob over the goalkeeper from 10 yards.