McInnes left to rue missed opportunity against Dundee

Rangers were the architects of their own downfall against Dundee on Saturday, with Derek McInnes left to rue a missed opportunity.

It wasn’t a strong performance overall from the Gers, with the first 20 minutes of the second half showing a high level, but it wasn’t enough.

Despite a sluggish display, Rangers rallied from 1-0 down to take the lead, but the self-destruct button was pressed once again.

That would be the story of the night.

Rangers defending leaves a lot to be desired

Bradley Fink’s opener for Dundee came due to the defence not clearing their lines.

Dujon Sterling was culpable when his effort was neither a clearance nor a pass back to Ivor Pandur. Dundee striker Fink done the rest, rounding the Gers’ keeper and putting the ball into the net.

Rangers scored either side of half-time through brilliant individual efforts from Badredine Bouanani and Nico Raskin. It’s a pity points were dropped, as those goals deserved to be remembered as a winning moment. They weren’t.

Rangers had chances to add a third, but that moment proved elusive.

Then on 69 minutes, poor decision-making compounded Rangers’ misery.

Manny Fernandez opted to turn back to Nico Raskin when he should have continued forward.

The Belgian international then passed to Dan Neil, when there were two other better options, with less of a risk.

Neil was already being pressed, but his flat-footed approach produced a failed attempt to play the ball back to Pandur.

He fluffed his lines badly, and Dundee took full advantage. Callum Jones finished well to make it 2-2.

Derek McInnes reacts to Dundee draw

Rangers’ boss Derek McInnes refused to be too critical of his players in the post-match press conference, but his words in private will have been more pointed.

“The first goal is avoidable. I just thought we were a bit sleepy and a bit not ready to deal with it and we should have been, because we knew their wide players work that system well.

“They take you in, they try and hit the gaps, they try and work the spaces.

“Two well-rounded runners with good size. Hay’s not massive, but his timing in there is magnificent.

“Fink’s a handful and Steven’s got them really motoring. They don’t mess about. They’ll play forward, they’ll ask questions of you and you need to be ready for it.

“So a combination of that and then the second goal is a mistake. The press comes on and, listen, I’m not going to criticise any of my players for it, but it is a mistake and it was difficult to say anything other than that, because we were so good in the game and you’ve just never seen a way back in for Dundee at that time.”