HAMPDEN hero Fraser Aird hopes his late goal will be rewarded with a Rangers starting berth in the near future.

The 17-year-old stepped off the bench to fire a dramatic winner for Ally McCoist's side at the National Stadium as the Irn-Bru Third Division leaders narrowly edged out 10-man Queen's Park.

The derby looked to have been heading for a stalemate before Canadian kid Aird broke the deadlock with a superb curling shot from the edge of the area.

The winger missed a month of the league campaign through injury and is now gunning for a place in the the starting XI after riding to Rangers' rescue at Hampden.

He said: "It was great to be able to go on and make an impact in the game and get the winner in the last minute. It was unbelievable.

"It is something that you dream about. I have been on the bench and I want to get back in the team.

"To get on for the last 20 minutes or so was great and I just wanted to do the best I could for the team.

"There is a big pool of players now that everyone is back fit so competition for places in the team and in the squad is quite tough.

"All the boys want to play. I knew that if I was on the bench I had to bide my time.

"I managed to come on at the weekend and make an impact so hopefully the gaffer was impressed and maybe gives me the nod for a starting place soon.

"I just have to be patient and wait and see what happens."

Aird's late goal not only moved Rangers 15 points clear at the top of the Third Division but it extended their impressive winning streak as they made it 10-in-a-row in Scotland's bottom tier.

After wins over promotion hopefuls Montrose, Elgin and Gardner Speirs' Spiders in recent weeks, the Light Blues have stormed ahead at the top of the table.

McCoist's side start off 2013 with a trip to Annan on Wednesday before hosting Berwick Rangers at Ibrox this weekend, and Aird is keen to keep the momentum going.

He said: "December has been a great month for us, we won all our games.

"Going into the new year we are buzzing and we want to start the year as we have finished this one.

"The gaffer couldn't stress that enough to us before the game, he wanted us to go out against Queen's Park and finish on a high note and we did that."