Hibernian 2 - 3 Rangers: Steven Whittaker, Andrius Velicka and Maurice Edu underpinning Rangers� championship challenge? These are strange and fascinating times in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Steven Whittaker, Andrius Velicka and Maurice Edu underpinning Rangers' championship challenge? These are strange and fascinating times in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Walter Smith has watched a bloated first-team squad wither away to a skeleton through injuries, transfers and, in the cases of Andy Webster and Brahim Hemandi, mysterious disappearances this season. With five games remaining, and only a point separating the challengers from the champions, Celtic, the Rangers manager has been oddly soothed by the fortitude shown by his fringe men.

This was no gay gallop in the spring sunshine. John Rankin's ferocious drive in the final minutes ensured a gripping finale; too gripping for Smith's liking as Hibernian, their top-six status secure, scavenged for an equaliser with abandon.

Rangers held their nerve and had their trio of unlikely heroes to thank.

Whittaker, who has done little in two years to justify his £2m move from Hibs, was in rampant form down Rangers' right-hand side, scoring the opening goal, creating the second and generally tormenting young Lewis Stevenson.

Then there was Velicka, a brooding slab of a striker who makes Kris Boyd look like a carefree athlete. The Lithuanian has scored in his last two outings and, remarkably, could play a significant role in the run-in after falling off the radar since his £1m move from Viking Stavangar in Norway. He was a useful battering-ram against Rob Jones and scored emphatically and in the nick of time, as Kenny Miller unpeeled his tracksuit ready to replace him. Edu embossed a brawny shift with the eventual winner.

So much for the popular myth circulating around Easter Road prior to kick-off that this was destined to be a drab, cautious affair. That theory lasted less than 120 seconds, by which time Whittaker had walloped a dipping volley past an unsuspecting and undemonstrative Gregorz Szamotulski. It set the tone for a feisty frolick.

Hibernian reinforced their midfield with the gangly but imposing presence of Sol Bamba. Rangers, meanwhile, decided that pace would not be a determining factor in the game and, thus, persevered with Velicka beside Kris Boyd, who will have to wait another week to become an Ibrox goalscoring centenarian.

An early goal has a funny way of unburdening the protagonists, a bit like an evenly poised boxing bout that descends into a toe-to-toe tear-up with one unexpectedly dull thud. Hibernian wobbled, hung on the ropes for a spell then re-assimilated legs with brain. It was the equivalent of changing from orthodox to southpaw, a confusing turn of events for the visitors. Rangers have hardly earned a reputation as knockout specialists this season and despite the early goal, were content to toy with the opposition despite inflicting early damage. The danger of preparing for a distance fight is the threat of an unexpected sucker punch.

Thus, after a half-hour of eminently watchable sparring, Hibernian landed one of their own. Whittaker lost the ball to John Rankin, who supplied the lively, cherub-faced Lewis Stevenson. He swung in a cross that caught David Weir and Madjid Bougherra in suspended animation, allowing Fletcher to float in and dispatch a header past Neil Alexander.

It was hardly without warning. Derek Riordan, a caricature of a once fearsome footballer, showed a glimpse of past glory by spinning inside Whittaker only to stab a shot wide. Colin Nish, substituted in strange circumstances before the interval, did not depart without a cameo, stepping inside an arthritic looking David Weir only to be stopped in his tracks by the ubiquitous Whittaker.

With the intimidating presence of Bamba evidently discouraging Pedro Mendes from surging forward, Denes Rosa enjoying a throwback joust with Maurice Edu, and Rankin popping up all over the place, Rangers' central hub became swarmed and, consequently, their forwards detached. With no discernable out ball, Rangers invited pressure. Steven Smith, in only his second start of the season, offered little in the way of invention on the left side of midfield but was still the best hope of adding to the early opener.

His wicked corner kick missed Edu's right boot by an inch; his free-kick headed back across goal by Bougherra and bundled wide by Velicka.

The Lithuanian is not a popular man in these parts. Not content with being a former Hearts employee, his embarrassing brittleness only added to the vilification. He would revel in his role as pantomime villain. Having tried to weave and thread their way through Hibernian, another haymaker did the trick. Whittaker stomped upfield, slid the ball to Velicka and the striker walloped a ferocious shot past Szamotulski, who had about as much chance of stopping it as he did Whittaker's.

The Rangers fans briefly interrupted their crass playlist of The Famine Song and F*** The Pope to acclaim a new and unlikely hero. There was another on the way.

Davis' corner caused chaos inside Szamotulski's six-yard box. Weir's header was flipped on to the bar, Boyd's rebound cannoned off Bamba's chest on the goal line but Edu muscled his way into the action to lash high into the net. What next: Hemdani getting a game?