Socceroos midfielder Matt McKay started for Rangers in his return to club football but his Scottish Premier League side were held to a goalless draw by St Johnstone at Ibrox on Saturday.
Rangers manager Ally McCoist threw McKay, who made his run-on debut for Rangers two weeks ago, into the fray from the onset once again.
However this time McKay, who played in both of Australia’s recent World Cup qualifiers against Oman and Thailand, struggled to impose himself on the contest.
The former Brisbane Roar captain struck a handful of useful crosses but was taken off the field by McCoist in the 64th minute.
Steve Lomas took charge of the Saints for the first time and his well-organised side snuffed out any hints of danger from the home side in the opening 45 minutes.
Both sides had chances in a more open second-half with St Johnstone striker Francisco Sandaza guilty of blowing a great opportunity.
Rivals Celtic cut the gap at the top as an Anthony Stokes second-half double helped the Hoops to a 2-0 away win to bottom side Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who had Greg Tansey sent off in the first-half.
Neil Lennon’s side could reduce the lead even further on Wednesday when they play their game in hand against Dunfermline.
At Ibrox, there wasn’t much goal-mouth action in the opening 45 minutes as Rangers had the lion’s share of possession but failed to show a cutting edge up front.
The home side were lacking in creativity but came close to taking the lead on the hour mark when Alejandro Bedoya diverted Kyle Lafferty’s wayward free-kick towards goal but Peter Enckelman got down low to save.
At the Caledonian Stadium, Inverness had looked comfortable until they were reduced to ten men in the 37th minute when Tansey was shown a straight red for leading with his elbow in an aerial challenge on Georgios Samaras.
Despite their numerical advantage it took Celtic until the hour mark to open the scoring when Stokes stabbed home from close range to finish off an impressive passing move.
Stokes got his second 11 minutes later when James Forrest’s blocked shot broke to him in the box and he drilled a low shot across Ryan Esson and into the bottom left-hand corner.
Elsewhere, Motherwell remain third following a 2-1 away win over Aberdeen, Dundee United defeated Hearts 1-0, St Mirren won 2-1 against Dunfermline and Hibernian and Kilmarnock settled for a 1-1 draw.
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