MICHAEL O’Halloran scored on his Rangers debut to ensure his new side avoided a shock Ladbrokes Championship defeat to part-time Alloa at the Indodrill Stadium this afternoon.

However, O’Halloran, a £500,000 capture from St. Johnstone in the January transfer window, was unable to prevent the Ibrox club from dropping two points.

The bitterly disappointing 1-1 draw handed Hibs, who took on Livingston away in the evening game, the chance to cut Rangers’ lead at the top of the second tier table.

However, Alan Stubbs' side could only draw 0-0 in West Lothian and remain eight points adrift in the division with a game in hand.

It was the third time in two seasons that the Glasgow club had failed to win on the artificial surface in Alloa – they drew and lost there last season - and they were fortunate their failure to register a win didn't prove more costly.

Mark Warburton had made three changes to the side which drew 0-0 with Kilmarnock at Ibrox seven days before – perhaps with half an eye on the replay with the Rugby Park club on Tuesday night.

Dominic Ball, who has done so well as a holding midfielder in recent games for the Glasgow club, found himself on the bench and Andy Halliday reverted to his former position.

Elsewhere, Jason Holt returned to the side and O’Halloran came in as Gedion Zelalem and Kenny Miller dropped out.

Having three wingers in his starting line-up – Forrester, Barrie McKay and O’Halloran – seemed a slightly strange move by Warburton given that the width of the pitch had been reduced by 10 yards.

But Forrester, making his first start for Rangers, was deployed in the centre of midfield alongside Holt in the 4-1-2-3 formation favoured by his manager.

The former Brentford player, who has signed a short-term deal until the end of the 2015/16 campaign, was involved in all of his side’s best passages of play early on.  

He struck the post with a curling shot in the sixth minute and teed up Martyn Waghorn with an attempt at goal which drifted narrowly wide in the 17th minute.

Holt struck the crossbar with a shot in the 20th minute after some fine work by McKay and it looked as if it would only be a matter of time before the visitors took the lead given their dominance of the game.

However, just a minute later Waghorn, unmarked in the Alloa  penalty box, headed a Forrester cross wide of goal with just keeper Scott Gallacher to beat.  The two teams went in level at half-time.

Jack Ross’s team took the lead in the 61st minute against the run of play after winning their first corner of the match.

Rangers keeper Wes Foderingham did well to tip a Colin Hamilton header from a Burton O’Brien free-kick over his crossbar.

Mitchel Megginson whipped the set piece into the box and Jason Marr met it with a header which Foderingham was unabe to keep out of his net.

Warburton made a double substitution shortly after his team fell behind – Holt and Waghorn came off and were replaced by Billy King and Nicky Clark respectively.

Kenny Miller came on for Forrester not long afterwards as the league leaders pushed hard for an equaliser.

That came in the 82nd minute when James Tavernier burst forward down the right flank and squared the ball to O’Halloran inside him.

The forward had done little in the game and many Rangers supporters were wondering how he had not been substituted by Warburton. But he made no mistake with his shot.

Gallacher did superbly to palm a Tavernier header from a Halliday cross over the crossbar and earn his bottom-placed side a point.