Gers are on the road to nowhere in SPL if they fail on travels

Thomas Jordan

RANGERS paid the price for slipping up on the road last season by losing out on the championship.

But it seems the Ibrox side have failed to learn from their mistakes as they now flirt dangerously with wrecking their title aspirations for a second successive season under Walter Smith.

The 2-1 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle now leaves Rangers sitting seven points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic. And that gap is only going to increase if Smith's side continue to prove so vulnerable on the road.

Before the weekend, the Light Blues had already drawn with Aberdeen at Pittodrie, shared the spoils with Motherwell at Fir Park and lost to St Mirren at Love Street. So, their weekend defeat now means they've dropped 10 points on their travels.

At home, Rangers have once again been convincing enough. Only a 3-3 draw with Dundee United denies them a 100% record in the league so far.

That was pretty much the same last term at Ibrox, when Rangers managed to win 18 of 19 encounters. But titles aren't won when you are backed by a capacity crowd and playing in the comforts of your own stadium.

They are won and lost at places like Tynecastle, Fir Park, Pittodrie and Love Street and, with way things are looking, you'd have to question whether or not Rangers have it in them to visit these places throughout the campaign and take maximum points.

When either half of the Old Firm fail to win, the reaction can be way over the top to say the least. However, even club captain Barry Ferguson conceded his team-mates have to try and win every game between now and the end of the season.

As SPL leaders Celtic clocked up their 12th consecutive victory as they attempt to make it four-in-a-row, it really would be a huge ask of Rangers to win the league if that gap was to increase to double figures.

With Celtic preparing to head to Ibrox in a few week's time for the second Old Firm showdown of the season, Smith's side really could find themselves in a position where they need to win the game simply to remain in the title race.

So what is the reason for the poor away form? As far as I can see, it's down to a lack of genuine quality in the wide areas. Teams are always going to play defensively against Rangers and Hearts went with a 4-5-1 formation.

When that's the case, you've got to look to the more creative players in your team to perhaps beat a man and send over a cross from the strikers to attack, or cut inside and unleash a shot when it's not expected.

But Rangers don't have that. At Tynecastle, Charlie Adam and Kyle Lafferty occupied the wide midfield slots as Barry Ferguson and Pedro Mendes were overrun in the middle of the park. And they offered their side nothing.

At £3.5m, Lafferty just isn't cutting it at Ibrox. If he is a striker rather than a wide player then he has got to be played as a striker. And Adam just doesn't have the pace or ingenuity to manage what Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney do for Celtic.

When Steven Davis is playing, Rangers at least have someone with some quality out wide on the right and he has created countless goals this season. But the guys who are currently operating on the left aren't good enough. It's as simple as that.

Smith now knows his players have put themselves under serious pressure and says the outcome of the remaining Old Firm games will now be crucial to his side's title ambitions.

He said: "I don't know about must-win games because the pressure here is to win every game you play.

"You always have to win your games when you are with Rangers anyway.

"We had a bit of a struggle from a defensive point of view and we gave away too many fouls. Hearts scored two goals from set-pieces and that was clearly our biggest problem.

"We also failed to create any opportunities to score but, overall, our inability to handle high balls has got us.

"We have been plagued by not defending set-pieces well enough and it was exactly the same against Dundee United.

"We showed a little bit of anxiety in the early stages and didn't deal with their deliveries.

"The consistency that Celtic have shown this season means the three Old Firm games are going to be vital and the pressure has now been heaped firmly upon ourselves."