What a slog this was for Rangers at Ibrox. The championship hopes of Walter Smith’s side are still alive, thanks to a glorious goal from Barry Ferguson after 73 minutes that finally breached Motherwell’s defence. As well as their captain’s fine skill, this required a certain doggedness and heroism from Rangers on a night when their supporters weren’t always behind them in their struggles.

As the race for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League approaches its confusing finale, this was a vital win. Smith’s side are now four points behind Celtic, but with two games in hand. For sheer jitteriness, a loss or draw here for Rangers just could not be considered.

The conspiracy theorists would have been thick on the ground had Ferguson not rescued his team. Mark McGhee, the Motherwell manager, recalled five players - Graeme Smith, Stephen Hughes, Simon Lappin, Ross McCormack and Steven McGarry - none of whom had started against Celtic at Fir Park last Saturday.

McGhee’s reasoning is perfectly plausible - he says he wants to rotate his players in these Old Firm fixtures because they are not the matches that will determine his side’s fate in trying to snatch a Uefa Cup spot. Had Rangers lost, though, that wouldn’t have satisfied the JFK-style theorists who smell plots around every corner at Ibrox these days.

A sign of Rangers’ nerves was seen in their manager going bonkers when the referee indicated four minutes of injury time. It is hard to recall as fraught a Premier League midweek as this at Ibrox.

All of this was watched by a familiar, barrelesque little figure, wearing the time-honoured blazer upon his squat, bullish frame, who bore an uncanny resemblance in physical bearing to Benito Mussolini. Dick Advocaat, the manager of Zenit St Petersburg, was back in Glasgow to spy on his old team ahead of next week’s Uefa Cup final.

Advocaat, perhaps a touch perversely for an opposition manager ahead of such a European final, railed on behalf of Rangers at the decision by the Scottish Premier League not to aid the club by cancelling Saturday’s league match against Dundee United before next week’s final at the City of Man-chester Stadium.

“If you tell people in Russia or Holland about it, they’ll say the Scottish competition is a Mickey Mouse competition,” the Zenit manager said. “The egos at the SPL have to think how long it’s going to be before a Scottish club comes back to a European final again. They have said the Dundee United game is not off - I don’t understand how they can say that. It is a farce. They certainly won’t understand the decision in Europe.”

This was an honourable position for Advocaat to adopt, though two things must be pointed out alongside it.

First, Wee Dick’s affection for Rangers, from a self-styled “member of the Rangers family”, still virtually knows no bounds. Secondly, as Advocaat humorously whispered later yesterday, he is not exactly au fait with the chaotic saga of the SPL’s fixtures congestion and, from his vantage point in St Petersburg, is hardly in a position to know what is and isn’t possible in terms of fixing the problem.

Sir David Murray, his friend, is angry about it all, and Advocaat is happy to be a co-conspirator in that anger. It doesn’t matter - it was still wonderful seeing Advocaat back at Ibrox. His presence here also triggered memories of a fine, flamboyant Rangers side of the late 1990s which was, in some ways, cruelly unlucky in the European arena.

Advocaat also saw Motherwell give Rangers quite a scare, and heard that familiar Ibrox disapproval being bellowed from the stands. It can be a remarkably compassionless arena on these occasions, as Smith has noted more than once this season. It wasn’t as if Rangers weren’t trying - they attempted to forensically pick their way through a packed Motherwell defence and midfield - but for much of the game that effort proved barren.

The first half was a case in point, with a David Weir header coming back off the bar, and a Jean-Claude Darcheville shot that flew wide of Graeme Smith’s left post. But for long periods this was a laboured Rangers performance, albeit from a side which remained sworn to playing passing football on the deck.

Much credit has to go to Motherwell. McGhee’s men showed a fine composure in tight spaces and an occasional elegance in midfield which was crafted mainly around Hughes and even Bob Malcolm. Hughes has a lovely touch and awareness in the middle of the park which has been such a boon to his team this season.

The midfield player, whenever he took possession, gave Motherwell precious respite last night in a game that became increasingly fraught - and rancorous - as the evening wore on.

For a period in the second half Rangers laid siege to the visitors’ goal, yet could not find a breakthrough. Ferguson blasted over, Kris Boyd headed over, and Nacho Novo scampered feverishly down the flank. Then Smith threw himself bravely to block at Novo’s feet. It was a long and draining evening for the Ibrox faithful.

Finally, 17 minutes from time, Ferguson beautifully hooked Steven Davis’s corner into Smith’s top-left corner from seven yards for Rangers’ winner.

Rangers (4-1-4-1): N Alexander - K Broadfoot, D Weir, C Cuéllar, S Whittaker - S Davis, B Ferguson, K Thomson, N Novo - J C Darcheville (sub: C Adam, 75), K Boyd (sub: D Cousin, 85). Substitutes not used: G Smith, C Dailly, S Lennon, P Emslie, J McMillan.

Motherwell (3-1-5-1): G Smith - B McLean, S Craigan, M Reynolds - B Malcolm - K Lasley (sub: D Smith, 75), S McGarry (sub: D Clarkson, 59), S Hughes, M Fitzpatrick, S Lappin - R McCormack (sub: C Porter, 75). Substitutes not used: L Daniels, S Hammil, J Murphy, S Meechan. Booked: Hughes, McCormack, Lappin. Referee: C Richmond.