Rangers have to front up now if they're to clinch SPL battle of the bottle

AS it turned out, it wasn't quite as damaging as it might have been. But Walter Smith's side certainly appear to be dicing with death as far as their championship ambitions are concerned.

Today, Rangers could quite easily have found themselves sitting five points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic in the SPL table after they threw away a two-goal lead at home to draw 2-2 with Hearts.

Had that been the case, you would have to presume it might have allowed Gordon Strachan's side a big enough advantage with just nine league matches remaining to cross the finishing line in first position. ONE BY ONE By Darrell King McGREGOR Blameless Nothing to do until just after the hour mark - then promptly picked the ball out of the net twice in a few minutes. Made a smashing save at 2-2 from Elliot or it could have been worse for Rangers. WHITTAKER Culpable Had a good first half, supporting Davis well. But got caught under the ball at Hearts equaliser. Fragile nature of his confidence was exposed after that as his game quickly collapsed. McCULLOCH OK Stand-in centre-back was cruising the game until Hearts scored. Then became part of a back four that just crumbled and allowed two diabolical goals to be scored. DAILLY Decent Like McCulloch, he had little to trouble him until the last 25 minutes. Won his headers, kept it simple but became edgy as Hearts fought back. PAPAC Trier Got forward as much as he could, but should have done better to close down Obua and prevent cross for second goal. DAVIS Good Busy and alert as always, the Northern Ireland man was more influential than in recent games. Released Novo with pass of the game and he should have killed the match. Needs to stay in good form. FERGUSON Riled Clearly a man with a point to prove after recent flak that's been flying. First half was as good as he's been for months, a powerful and influential display that was capped by a great goal. But ran out of steam and frustration soon crept in. MENDES Ineffectual Is far better than this. Look back at his Rangers debut against Hearts earlier in the season at Ibrox, and compare to Saturday and that shows the difference in impact. BEASLEY Inconsistent Came from nowhere to start and the American was decent in a good Rangers first half, setting up the opening goal with a bit of quick thinking. But faded like a lot of others and was subbed. BOYD Poor Are recent events taking their toll? Maybe his bust-up with manager and being benched for last weekend's cup final was still lingering as the big striker did nothing. LAFFERTY Cruel Was having his best game in a Rangers jersey and scored a fine goal - then disaster struck again. Innocuous ankle problem twist left him stretchered off in agony. NOVO Wasteful Missed a sitter at 2-0 that changed the face of the game as Hearts went right up the park and scored. NAISMITH Poor Still struggling to get up to match speed, but needs to do better than this when given chance to make an impact. MANAGER Relieved Smith knew it had been a damaging day - but then yesterday's lifeline came and his side are still alive, even if they look far from title material.

So, while Celtic could only draw 2-2 at Dundee United 24 hours later, preventing the gap between the two clubs increasing from the three-point advantage the Hoops currently hold, it shouldn't stop serious questions being asked about Rangers' title credentials.

Do Walter Smith's players have the bottle to win the league? Are there enough leaders willing to stand up and be counted when the going gets tough? And, if so, why have they only managed to take one point from back-to-back league matches at home.

If one thing was evident more than anything else at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon, it was the amount of players who went into a shell and didn't want to know as Hearts somehow hauled themselves back into the game.

All of a sudden, the same players who couldn't see enough of the ball as they enjoyed a two-goal advantage started to hide behind opponents and couldn't get rid of the ball quickly enough.

It's easy, of course, to look the part when there is no pressure and your team are a couple of goals ahead. But who was willing to put their neck on the line after Hearts levelled the score and the home crowd vented their anger?

In fact, once Rangers found themselves pegged back to 2-2 they didn't manage another effort on Hearts goal. So, with over 20 minutes remaining, and their title dreams possibly on the line, they couldn't get a shot in.

That is not the sign of a team that has what it takes to go on and win the league.

Barry Ferguson, as captain and longest-serving player, will always cop the brunt of the criticism from the fans. Yet he was excellent during the first half and scored a fine goal to double his side's advantage just before the interval.

But he didn't manage to influence the game in the final 20 minutes when Rangers needed their top players to rise above the mediocrity. Neither did his midfield partner Pedro Mendes.

For all the plaudits the Portuguese midfielder has received this season, he was once again posted missing when his team needed him to come up with something special, just like the previous weekend as Celtic won the League Cup.

In attack, Kris Boyd wasn't at the races from start to finish and the badge-kissing Nacho Novo failed to be his side's saviour. Indeed, had he not fluffed his big chance earlier in the game Rangers might not have found themselves in such a position.

Steven Davis was another who didn't do enough. Steven Naismith climbed off the bench to try and conjure up something special from wide on the left but he, too, was unable to find a way to threaten Hearts' goal.

So, as much as Smith would have been bitterly disappointed his side undid all their good work during the first hour of the game by losing two bad goals, he must have been angrier still at the reaction he witnessed afterwards.

Celtic found themselves in a similar position at Tannadice, when they went from winning the game to 2-1 behind. But they reacted in the right manner, looked determined and couldn't give any more to find a lifeline from some- where.

That is what Rangers have to display between now and the end of the season if they are to win the league. They will, no doubt about it, find themselves in some difficult positions in the coming weeks.

Forget about formations. Forget about tactics and forget about specific players playing in a specific position. The one thing, more than anything else, which will influence the destination of the championship, is bottle.

When Smith described his team as "soft" following their 2-2 draw on Saturday, you can take it as read that is what he was referring to. They weren't brave enough to get back into the game and get out with the three points.

The Rangers manager said: "There was softness about us. There was a lack of resilience when put under pressure. So we need to show more determination.

"We are making things extremely difficult for ourselves, especially with our home results.

"We've lost to Inverness and drawn with Hearts in our past two games at Ibrox and we had 90% of the play in both games.

"It was extremely disappointing not to win. When you are chasing the championship draws feel like a defeat. We were two ahead and I don't think anyone would have thought Hearts would have left with a point.

"But we managed to undo our good work to let them back into the match." NEED TO KNOW

Was it a good game? Rangers dominated for the first hour of the game and then fell apart as Hearts came back from two goals behind to share the spoils. What the game lacked in quality at times it certainly made up for in drama as the home side were booed off after surrendering their lead.

Who scored the goals? Kyle Lafferty started the ball rolling nine minutes into the game with a low finish from just inside the penalty area. Barry Ferguson doubled the advantage just before the interval. Nacho Novo blew a fantastic chance to put his side 3-0 up and that miss came back to haunt Rangers as Christos Karipidis and Ruben Palazuelos netted to secure a draw for a Hearts side that looked down and out at the break.

Rangers' best player? Allan McGregor was forced to make two outstanding saves to deny Hearts so probably deserves the accolade.

And Hearts' top man? Substitute Calum Elliot inspired his team's revival.

And the ref? Craig Thomson tried his best to allow play to flow and had a decent match.

Who is up next? Falkirk away on Sunday week for Gers after the international break.