Mark Warburton relieved after 'poor' Rangers beat Queen of the South
Sunday 21 February 2016 20:35, UK
Rangers boss Mark Warburton was upset with his team's second-half show but relieved to overcome Queen of the South on Sunday.
The Ibrox side looked frustrated for long periods as they struggled to break down their stubborn opponents, before Kenny Miller climbed off the bench to fire the winner within four minutes after his introduction on the hour.
The former Scotland striker's effort was jeered by the home support as it appeared to be soaring over, only for it to nestle in the top corner for the 36-year-old's 100th Scottish league goal.
Warburton said: "It was an important three points but that's probably as poor as we've been all season in the last 20 minutes of the second half.
"We gave the ball away cheaply, sat too deep and gave them too much time and space. Wes Foderingham pulled off two or three outstanding saves. I've said before that we've played well and didn't get the rewards but today we'll take that because we played poorly for the last 20 minutes.
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"It was a special strike from Kenny. He sets a good example. He came off the bench and got the goal which was really important.
"But as a squad can we be better? That was as poor as we've been all season in the last 20 minutes."
The Light Blues were without top scorer Martyn Waghorn for the first time since he was ruled out for eight weeks with a knee injury.
But Warburton denied the striker's lay-off was behind their sloppy showing.
"It's not about Martyn," he said. "I'm not going to say we won't miss a guy who has scored 28 goals - of course we will.
"But look at our bench - Kenny Miller, Gedion Zelalem, Nicky Law, Dean Shiels, Dom Ball, Harry Forrester - all really good players. We'll miss Martyn but it's about the squad."
Queen of the South boss James Fowler was disappointed his side could not capitalise from their late surge.
"I felt we were unfortunate not to take something from the game," he said. "I felt we were camped in a wee bit in the first half, with Rangers dominating possession, but we tweaked it at half-time and that gave us more impetus.
"I felt in the second half we created enough chances to at least get a point."
