IT is not quite buy one get one free but Rangers have certainly got more than they bargained for in Bilel Mohsni.

In this time of austerity at Ibrox, when the need to spend wisely is greater than ever, Ally McCoist has been lucky and ended up with two players for the price of one in the eccentric French-Tunisian.

At one end of the pitch, Mohsni has been part of a defence that has been the foundation upon which Rangers have built their SPFL League 1 title success. The former Southend United and Ipswich Town player may contrast significantly in style to centre-back partner Lee McCulloch - the Rangers captain is far more conventional than his sidekick, who has been caught out at times by his attempts to play out of defence - but, on the whole, he has been fairly solid.

On Tuesday against Ayr United, the Ibrox crowd witnessed the other side of Mohsni's game. With Rangers toiling for a breakthrough and their attacking play laboured once again, it was the defender who clinched a 2-1 win with a second-half brace, first heading home from Fraser Aird's corner then scoring the winner after Nicky Clark's header had been parried by David Hutton, the Ayr goalkeeper.

"I am very happy," Mohsni said after scoring his 11th and 12th goals of the season. "I wanted to score 10 and, when I knew I would get past 10, I set a target of 20. I don't think I will make it but I will try to get more.

"When I was younger, I played up front. I didn't want to defend. I defend all of the year so I wanted to play up front. Every goal is different, it is the best part of the game.

"I was confident that I would get [my target]. In football, if you are happy in your mind, you can do good things on the pitch. When I signed here, I was very happy. I knew I could score 10 goals."

Mohsni's scoring touch has been a welcome bonus for McCoist, who has often seen his side struggle to break down teams in the third tier before going on to win fairly comfortably once the floodgates opened. To score 12 in his first season is a notable achievement for the 26-year-old defender but it is the opportunities he has not converted that will be remembered come the end of the campaign.

Mohsni had the chance to further endear himself to the Rangers support, and secure the Ramsdens Cup, at Easter Road earlier this year but glaring misses cost McCoist's side and they continue to haunt him.

"I was very disappointed because I had three chances," he said. "It was the last minute [for one of them] and it was hard to put my body in the right position to score. I was very disappointed, though. It would have been my second trophy. I think we played better than Raith Rovers but they had one chance and scored. It was very frustrating.

"The one where I was close to the goal in the second half, all of the players jumped in front of me and the ball came on to my head. I didn't see it. The defender jumped in front of me and I headed it late. I don't need to see it back, I know it was bad."

With another two goals added to his tally on Tuesday night and another three points on the board, it was a job well done, if not completed with style, for Mohsni and Rangers. Saturday's visit of Stranraer and a trip to Dunfermline Athletic on the final day of the campaign are the only matches to be negotiated if Rangers are to end the campaign undefeated and Mohsni is determined there will be no slip-ups.

"This is our last achievement now," he said. "It would be fantastic. The manager said it would go down in the history of the club. It is just Arsenal that have done it so it would be very good."