Rangers vs Raith Rovers. Scottish Championship.
Ibrox StadiumAttendance40,662.
Tuesday 1 March 2016 23:39, UK
Rangers are five wins from a return to the Scottish Premiership, after beating Raith Rovers 2-0 at Ibrox.
Mark Warburton's side capitalised on yet another slip-up from Hibernian to go 14 points clear at the top of the Scottish Championship table, thanks to goals from Harry Forrester and Lee Wallace.
It came as Alan Stubbs' Hibs side suffered a third straight league defeat, with Rangers loanee Andy Murdoch scoring the only goal as they lost 1-0 to Queen of the South.
After scoring a last-gasp winner against St Mirren on Saturday, it was former Doncaster midfielder Forrester who inspired Rangers to victory again.
With Saturday's Scottish Cup clash with Premiership side Dundee right around the corner, Gers boss Warburton elected to rest striker Kenny Miller and midfielders Nicky Law and Barrie McKay for this one, allowing Forrester, Billy King and Nicky Clark to start.
The home side very nearly took the lead inside the opening 90 seconds, with Jason Holt and Forrester both coming close to scoring.
They did eventually make the breakthrough on 27 minutes, with Forrester's neat footwork allowing him to spin away from Raith's Ryan McCord, before firing the ball over the head of Rovers goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert and into the net.
That was the only goal Rangers managed in the first-half, but they made quick work of things in the second period, with captain Lee Wallace netting just six minutes after the restart.
Billy King beat three Raith players on the left, before teeing up left-back Wallace on the edge of the area. The Gers skipper drilled a first-time effort under Cuthbert's body and into the net.
Forrester continued to pull the strings in midfield behind striker Nicky Clark, before being replaced on the hour-mark by Dean Shiels.
Rangers continued to create openings, however, and Holt was unlucky not to score with a spectacular scissors kick, which he saw saved by Cuthbert.
Keeper Cuthbert was in action again in the dying moments to stop a powerful effort from King, as Rangers comfortably saw out the final stages.
