Rangers suffered a 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock and have slipped down the table.
Ally McCoist told BT Sport immediately after Rangers’ disappointing 2-1 loss to Kilmarnock that Steven Gerrard’s hopes of toppling Celtic had suffered a “serious dent” on Wednesday night.
Rangers took the lead through new signing Jermain Defoe who tapped in from close range, but goals from Eamonn Brophy and Rangers’ pre-contract signing Jordan Jones saw Defoe’s debut goal cancelled out.
Before the match, Rangers’ win over Celtic on December 29 had seen the Old Firm rivals remain on level points during the winter break. But now, the two are three apart with Celtic still boasting a game in hand.
Rangers legend McCoist believes the Gers’ hopes of challenging Celtic for the Scottish Premiership title had taken a serious knock, after Celtic earned an excellent 4-0 home win over St. Mirren.
“It’s put a serious dent in their title hopes and has asked some serious questions, like are they good enough to challenge Celtic? I thought they struggled defensively all night. But credit to Kilmarnock, fantastic,” McCoist said.
Celtic earned all three points as their new signings hit the ground running. Oliver Burke notched a brace, while Timothy Weah scored his second in two games. Scott Sinclair also scored a penalty.
As irony would have it, Northern Ireland international Jones broke free on the counter in the second half before lashing a shot past Allan McGregor to win 2-1 – just weeks after signing a deal that will see him move to Ibrox in the summer.
Rangers have now slipped into third and two points behind Steve Clarke’s men, while also sitting level on points with Derek McInnes’ Aberdeen. The Gers have another tricky away game on Sunday, as they travel to the Tony Macaroni Stadium to face Livingston.
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