Motherwell 1 - 1 Rangers Wed 10/02/10

Kris Boyd showed Rangers what they had been missing when he rescued a point against Motherwell in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

The striker made his first start since recovering from a double hernia operation and prevented the Scottish champions from slumping to only their second league defeat of the season.

Tom Hateley - son of former Rangers hero Mark - grabbed the opener for Motherwell.

Kenny Miller started alongside Boyd upfront as Rangers manager Walter Smith made four changes from the weekend.

The strike duo came off the bench in the goalless Active Nation Scottish Cup tie at St Mirren and made the starting line-up tonight, with Steven Naismith moved back to midfield and Kyle Lafferty dropped to the bench.

David Weir returned from suspension to partner Madjid Bougherra in the heart of defence, while Sasa Papac was back after a knee injury kept him out of the last couple of games.

Motherwell made one change from the side who defeated Hamilton; the suspended Giles Coke replaced by Ross Forbes. New loan signing Michael McGlinchey started on the bench.

The Steelmen started well and carved out the first real chance of the match when Keith Lasley whipped in a cross from the right for John Sutton but he nodded just well.

Lukas Jutkiewicz then tried his luck from distance but his weak effort went straight into the hands of Allan McGregor.

The on-loan Everton man was threatening again moments later, this time turning and unleashing a point-blank left-foot shot that was also blocked by McGregor.

The Rangers goalkeeper was called into action again as Motherwell continued to pile on the pressure, this time pushing a blistering long range effort from Sutton past his left-hand post.

Rangers then had the chance to open the scoring when Boyd was fouled just outside the box by Stephen Craigan and Steven Davis curled his free-kick narrowly past the upright.

Instead, it was Motherwell who took the lead under similar circumstances with 28 minutes gone. The foul on Jim O'Brien by Davis should never have been given and Hateley stepped up and left McGregor with no chance with a superb free-kick that smashed into the top corner.

Rangers tried to hit back when Boyd unleashed a ferocious volley from 30-yards but goalkeeper John Ruddy was able to gather, before then blocking from Lee McCulloch.

Rangers made a change at the interval, with Nacho Novo replacing Kirk Broadfoot and Steven Whittaker switching to right-back, as they desperately tried to haul themselves back into the game.

Motherwell were denied a second goal of the night when Hateley's free-kick was met by Craigan, whose effort was helped over the line by Forbes only for the latter to be flagged for offside.

At the other end, a Davis corner broke for Novo and he rifled a powerful volley from just outside the box only to be denied by an alert Ruddy.

Rangers pushed forward in a bid to snatch a point and Ruddy was forced to block from Davis, before Boyd blasted over from close-range.

But the striker made amends with 80 minutes on the clock when he collected a cross from the left from Sasa Papac and lashed into the back of the net from the six-yard box.

Teams

RANGERS: McGregor; Broadfoot (Novo 45), Bougherra, Weir, Papac; Naismith (Lafferty 63), Davis, McCulloch, Whittaker; Boyd, Miller,

Subs: Alexander, Thomson, Little, Wilson, Wylde,

Motherwell: Ruddy, Reynolds, Craigan, Hammell, Jennings, Lasley, Hateley, Jutkiewicz, O'Brien, Sutton, Forbes (Murphy 81),

Subs: Fraser, Page, Saunders, McGlinchey, Humphrey, McHugh,

Ref: C Murray

Man-of-the-match: Boyd

Attendance: 9,352