THE suggestion that Rangers are on the verge of appointing a permanent replacement for Mark Warburton as manager after nearly three weeks with Graeme Murty in temporary charge will please many at Ibrox.

But not least, you suspect, Murty himself after this nerve-wracking evening. The caretaker had, with his team leading 2-0 thanks to a first half strike from Barrie McKay and a second half goal from Martyn Waghorn, looked poised to oversee his first Ladbrokes Premiership win with 16 minutes remaining last night.

But nothing is straightforward with his side. David Wotherspoon pulled one back for the visitors just three minutes after replacing Danny Swanson and then Steven Anderson levelled at a Liam Craig corner with little over three minutes left.

It looked as if the Ibrox club had somehow managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory. But a remarkable match had a further twist to take. Emerson Hyndman slotted home in the first minute of injury-time to seal a dramatic victory.

The thrilling 3-2 win stretched the advantage third-placed Rangers hold over their opponents in the Premiership table to nine points. With Hearts losing to Ross County at Tynecastle they are also now eight points ahead of the capital club.

This result, then, could prove significant in their bid to secure a place in Europe for the first time in six years. It could even prove a turning point in what has been, even by their recent standards, a turbulent campaign.

There has been quite a turnaround in the space of five days. On Friday night, a 2-1 defeat to Inverness away had put them in a seemingly dire predicament. Hearts had the opportunity to pull to within two points of them and St Johnstone three with weekend wins.

Now, though, their position looks far healthier. Even Aberdeen, beaten once again by Hamilton at the SuperSeal Stadium on Tuesday evening, are just six points ahead.

Clint Hill, who had sustained a whiplash injury in the defeat to Dundee last month, came in to the Rangers team at the expense of Danny Wilson while Jason Holt, who had sat out the defeat to Inverness, replaced Andy Halliday.

The changes worked well. Waghorn, Hyndman and Jon Toral all went close to opening the scoring before McKay finally put them ahead in the 22nd minute.

Craig should have put the Perth club level just two minutes after the restart but his disappointment was exacerbated a minute later when their Glasgow rivals netted. Miller picked out Waghorn and the forward’s header spun past Clark. Wotherspoon pulled one back for St. Johnstone just three minutes after rcoming onand, just four minutes after that Rob Kiernan was ordered off for a foul on Graham Cummins.

Murty acted quickly to limit the damage by removing Waghorn and Toral for Danny Wilson and Andy Halliday respectively. But they were unable to prevent Anderson making it 2-2 late on.

Hyndman, though, stepped in to seal what may be a vital three points.