Rangers slipped further behind the pace being set by Celtic after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Aberdeen.
Champions fall further behind Old Firm rivals
Rangers slipped further behind the SPL pace being set by Celtic after being held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home by Aberdeen.
Walter Smith's side have now drawn a blank in three consecutive league games after failing to find a way past Aberdeen, who have not won at Ibrox since 1991.
There were a couple of surprises in the Rangers line-up. Kris Boyd was dropped and Steven Davis mysteriously absent from the squad as Walter Smith made five changes from the side who defeated Queen of the South in the Co-operative Insurance Cup.
Allan McGregor was back in goal at the expense of Neil Alexander, while Sasa Papac and Pedro Mendes missed out through injury and suspension respectively. As well as McGregor, Kenny Miller, Lee McCulloch, Steven Smith and Nacho Novo were all drafted into the starting line-up.
Aberdeen made three changes from the side who crashed out of the League Cup to Dundee, with youngsters Michael Paton, Peter Pawlett and Fraser Fyvie starting ahead of Chris Maguire, Darren Mackie and Davide Grassi, who suffered a fractured cheekbone midweek.
Some lovely play from Rangers almost led to the opener in the first minute when Madjid Bougherra slipped a pass to Miller who hooked into the path of Steven Naismith.
He was halted just outside the box by a Charlie Mulgrew foul.
The Dons player earned a yellow card for the challenge but made amends when goalkeeper Jamie Langfield spilled Jerome Rothen's free-kick and he managed to clear the danger before anyone had a chance to pounce on the rebound.
Rangers fans then screamed for a penalty when Steven Whittaker went to ground under pressure from Paton but there appeared to be little in the incident and there was no claim for a spot-kick from the player as referee Iain Brines signalled for play to continue.
The Ibrox side continued to press for the opener and Rothen stung the palms of Langfield with a powerful drive that the Dons keeper did well to block at the near post.
Rangers had another decent chance to take the lead when Novo released Miller and he turned in the box before unleashing the shot but his effort was deflected past the post by Richard Foster.
Pressure
Aberdeen had posed little threat at the other end of the park and Gary McDonald resorted to a long-range shot which fell well over the crossbar and did little to trouble McGregor in the Rangers goal.
A free-kick 25 yards out - for an Ifil foul on Novo - provided Rangers with another opportunity to pile on the pressure but a full-stretch Langfield managed to tip Rothen's swerving effort over the bar.
The keeper came to Aberdeen's rescue again moments later when Novo raced onto a Miller pass and bore down on goal but Langfield raced from his line to narrow the angle and the striker fired straight into his arms.
However, Aberdeen were dealt a blow just before the interval when Ifil hobbled out of the action, before being replaced by Stuart Duff. McGregor then did well to block from McDonald, as the Dons almost snatched the lead on the whistle.
Aberdeen started the second half the way they had ended the first - threatening the Rangers goal. A Pawlett corner broke to Andrew Considine in the box and he rifled a ferocious shot narrowly past McGregor's left-hand upright.
Rangers recovered and should have taken the lead themselves when Smith's cross to the near post found Novo but he was denied the opener when Considine nodded off the line and out for a corner.
With the game still deadlocked, the Scottish champions threw Boyd into the action in place of Naismith with just over an hour gone.
Instead, it was Aberdeen who should have snatched the opener when McGregor was left flapping at a Mulgrew corner and Considine somehow failed to connect with the header a yard out at the back post.
Then it was Rangers' turn to pass up a couple of chances. Whittaker's cross was met by Boyd, whose glancing header fell across the face of goal and wide.
Foster then narrowly avoided an own-goal when he deflected a Novo cross onto the post, the ball spinning out of play, with Boyd loitering with intent in front of goal.
