RANGERS have dropped to third spot in the Premiership standings after being held to a 1-1 draw by Ross County at Ibrox.

Lee Wallace cancelled out Alex Schalk’s  opener to earn Mark Warburton’s side a point as they failed to beat the Staggies for the third time this term.

The Light Blues have now fallen behind Aberdeen in the table after the Dons, who still have a game in hand, beat Partick Thistle at Pittodrie.

Boss Warburton made three changes to his side as Philippe Senderos replaced Rob Kiernan at the back, Jason Holt came in for Andy Halliday in midfield and Joe Garner returned from injury as Martyn Waghorn dropped to the bench.

The Englishman would have been hoping for a quick start at Ibrox but it was County who had the first chance inside the opening two minutes as Wes Foderingham clawed away a deflected effort from Martin Woods.

At the other end, Rangers had plenty of possession in the final third but they couldn’t carve out many chances, with a James Tavernier strike the closest they came to breaking the deadlock.

Just minutes later, County stunned Ibrox. Jim O’Brien’s pass split the Gers defence and sent Schalk free and the striker made no mistake as he beat Foderingham from inside the area.

The visitors were comfortable at that stage and they should have doubled their lead before the half hour mark. Foderingham looked to play out from the back but lost possession and O’Brien again found Schalk. The keeper’s error didn’t prove costly, though, as the Country striker fired his shot into the side netting.

The pressure was on Rangers to respond and frustrations began to grow around Ibrox as Warburton’s side struggled to dominate proceedings.

Barrie McKay saw a shot blocked after Jon Toral’s net flick from a Tavernier cross but it was Garner who had the best chances of the half.

Senderos found Kenny Miller in the middle of the park and his pass gave Garner a sight of goal. The striker couldn’t convert, though, as Scott Fox snuffed out the danger.

Just seconds later, Tavernier fired a low cross in from the right but the chance wasn’t taken as Garner slid in at the back post.

It could have got worse for Rangers just before the break when Schalk had another sight of goal but Foderingham was equal to his effort this time as he made a smart save.

Warburton needed a big second half performance from his side and Miller almost gave them the ideal start but his header from a Garner cross was just wide of the far post.

The former Preston forward almost brought the Gers level but Fox saved his header and then denied Toral on the line as the Spaniard looked to net his first goal in Light Blue.

The County keeper made another stop from Garner after a mistake from Kenny van der Weg before Warburton made his first switches as Harry Forrester and Waghorn replaced McKay and the Gers’ number seven.

With 20 minutes left, Rangers finally got their goal. County failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Toral on the edge of the area. His pass found Wallace and the skipper beat Fox with a low finish to give Ibrox hope of another late victory.

Tavernier wasted a free-kick from a promising area as he blasted the ball high into the stands before Emerson Hyndman came closer with a drive that whistled just over the bar.

There were appeals for a penalty when Andrew Davies diverted Tavernier’s cross towards Fox and the keeper reacted quickly to put the ball over for a corner.

Toral found the side netting and Hill came close with a header but there was no last-gasp winner for Rangers this time.