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Rangers needed a Lee Wallace equaliser to secure their passage to the Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final.

Queen of the South took the lead at Ibrox through Derek Lyle's first-half goal, which levelled the tie at 2-2 overall.

The home side had been the better team and they held their nerve after the break to progress to face Hibernian.

Although, they still needed the excellent Haris Vuckic to head a Lyle shot off the line before the end.

Rangers began as if intensity alone would be enough to secure their progress. They were assertive, and their dynamic play seemed to subdue the mood and ambition of the Queens players.

The home side trusted in their zeal, even if an early Marius Zaliukas scramble was a reminder of the fragility of their defence.

Using Vuckic behind the two strikers Kenny Miller and Nicky Clark was a ploy by the Rangers manager Stuart McCall, but he wasn't alone in hoping that scheming would be decisive.

His Queens counterpart James Fowler played the tricky and creative Daniel Carmichael wide on the right, since he had been marked into submission in the first-leg by Andy Murdoch.

Carmichael, like many of his teammates, looked forlorn in the opening half-hour. They could only chase the game, because Rangers moved the ball with purpose and fluency.

Vuckic tended to be prominent, and he combined with Wallace to allow the full-back to deliver a cross that Clark sent wide.

The sense was of Queens being beleaguered, but old habits were still reliable. They could also count on Rangers' defence being flawed.

A rare intervention by Carmichael saw him cross into the six-yard box, where Derek Lyle barged through to head past the Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell.

The goal was a contradiction to all of the play that had preceded it. The Rangers players still left the field to the sound of booing, but the interval was an opportunity to regroup, and Clark had to produce a brilliantly agile and reflexive save after the break when he tipped Miller's header away.

Frustration grew among the home fans, and McCall turned to the main stand at one stage and urged them to calm down. Yet his own temper rose as the Queens striker Gavin Reilly broke through on goal only for his control to let him down.

The heavy touch was timely for Rangers, because moments later Clark chested the ball down to Wallace inside the area and he shot home as the Queens players claimed, in vain, for offside.

Patience was still required - not least when the erratic Bilel Mohsni came off the bench - as Queens staged an onslaught. Vuckic proved influential in all areas of the game, since he headed Lyle's curling effort off the line.

Ultimately, Rangers held on, although the physical and nervous energy spent in the game will prove draining with Hibs visiting on Wednesday.