THERE are far greater battles being fought off the field at Rangers just now than the ones the team is waging on it.

Who holds power at Ibrox is of much more significance to the future of the Glasgow institution than the outcome of a game.

Nevertheless, the hard-fought and narrow 1-0 win over Alloa at the Indodrill Stadium on Saturday was important for the Gers for a number of reasons.

And the meeting with Hearts at Ibrox on Friday night is, despite their opponents' seemingly unassailable 13-point lead at the top of the SPFL Championship, also crucial.

For finally completing "The Journey" and securing promotion back to the top flight of Scottish football in the 2014/15 campaign remains absolutely massive for Rangers.

Not as big, admittedly, as having a club hierarchy that supporters can trust fully and unite behind.

Nor does it matter as much as securing substantial fresh investment.

However, booking a place in the Premiership alongside their Old Firm rivals Celtic this term will cure a great many of the League One champions' many ills.

So the victory against Barry Smith's side at the weekend, secured thanks to a solitary Nicky Law strike in the first half, was certainly of some consequence.

It stretched the lead that Rangers hold over Hibs, who were held to a 3-3 draw with Falkirk at home, to eight points and increased their chances of claiming the first play-off spot.

Finishing second will give them an advantage, albeit a slight one, in those end-of-season series of matches and will improve their chances of going up.

Anybody who watched Rangers play third-placed Hibs and fourth-placed Queen of the South away in recent weeks will rightly question their ability to go up by that route.

They were thrashed 4-0 and 2-0 at Easter Road and Palmerston Park respectively.

They were, as the old saying goes, lucky to get nil on both occasions.

So a major objective for Kenny McDowall's side between now and the end of the league programme has to be building up some confidence and putting together a run of better form.

For those reasons, the result through in snowy and blustery Clackmannanshire, which came a week after Dumbarton had been overcome 3-1 at Ibrox, was welcome.

The Light Blues lived dangerously at times against rivals they had not beaten in three meetings previously this season - and who had knocked them out of the Challenge Cup last month. But the game should have been dead and buried in the first half. Kenny Miller had three good scoring chances and David Templeton had two excellent opportunities.

None of them were taken.

"I felt we did really well against Alloa, created good chances and failed to punish them," said McDowall.

"The only thing the lads were guilty of was not taking their chances."

Yet, the artificial pitch, which had been heavily relaid with black rubber pellets, was once again not to the liking of Rangers who at no stage looked comfortable on the surface.

"It was really difficult to play on," said McDowall. "When the players were shooting they were sometimes struggling to get the ball airborne. I'm not keen on the pitch at all."

McDowall brought in Jon Daly for Nicky Clark, Kyle Hutton for Ian Black and David Templeton for Fraser Aird after the Hibs debacle and that trio retained their places in the starting line-up.

Daly and Hutton, who cleared the ball to safety over his own crossbar from within his own six yard box in the last minute of regulation time, certainly performed well.

McDowall said: "Jon is an experienced player who knows how to play his position.

"He certainly helps other players. He did well to set up Nicky for his goal with a nice cut back."

Getting a win at a venue where they squandered a two goal lead in the final 20 minutes and lost 3-2 last month against a side they had not beaten in three games this season may also be important for Rangers psychologically. As, for that matter, would overcoming Robbie Neilson's undefeated side in front of the Sky Sports cameras at Ibrox later on this week.

But they will have to play better, much better, to do so. Certainly, they can't be as slack in the final third as they were at the weekend and still expect to win.

Nor can they gift their opponents so much possession in dangerous areas. Former Motherwell midfielder Law, who took his tally for the season to 10 to become his club's top scorer in all competitions, was the only player to show any kind of ruthlessness in attack.

"Nicky takes his chances really well," said McDowall. "There was a good bit of play by Kenny Miller and Jon Daly in the build-up to the goal.

"But Nicky made a great run and produced a decent finish. It was different class."

A win over the Tynecastle club would kick-start Rangers' faltering season and give them a glimmer of hope that they could do more than simply make up numbers if they make it through to the play-offs.