PEDRO CAIXINHA may come to be grateful for Lee McCulloch’s assertion that any new Rangers manager ought only to be judged once he has been in the post for a full six months. The Portuguese will also know that he is unlikely to get that much time to make his mark. A second successive draw in his first away game since succeeding Mark Warburton in the Ibrox dug-out can hardly be considered sufficient material for a crisis but Caixinha will be aware of the expectation on him to raise standards at Ibrox and quickly, too.

The draw does little to aid Rangers in their stated aim of pursuing Aberdeen in second place in the Ladbrokes Premiership, the gap narrowing only to 12 points with seven games of the season remaining. The next of those takes place between second and third at Pittodrie on Sunday, a match already shaping up to be something of a raucous, barnstorming occasion. You can imagine Derek McKinnes and his players already licking their lips at the prospect.

Rugby Park, in contrast, can hardly be considered one of Scottish football’s more intimidating venues but, even with their fans strewn over two ends of the ground, Rangers could not find a way to break through an obdurate Kilmarnock defence. They will claim themselves unfortunate not to have been awarded a second-half penalty while also passing up a few decent scoring chances throughout the game, but this did not look a Rangers side capable of eventually grinding supposedly inferior teams into submission as was often the case in the past.

The draw does little to enhance Kilmarnock’s chances of making the top half of the table before the league split but the battling performance at least ought to go in McCulloch’s favour as the interim manager tries to build a case to be given the job on a permanent basis. His team huffed and puffed throughout but, not unlike Rangers, lacked the finesse and cutting edge to find a way past Wes Foderingham in the Rangers goal. After witnessing their team crumble too often on these occasions, the home support did not seem overly discontented when the final whistle sounded, although they would have been undoubtedly happier if Sean Longstaff’s injury-time header had gone in rather than drifting narrowly wide.

Rangers had lined up just as Caixinha had promised they would some 30 hours previous, ruling out the notion that showing his hand to the opposition had been all part of some kind of Portuguese jiggery-pokery. That meant debuts in defence for 20 year-old David Bates and 18 year-old Myles Beerman as Rangers returned to a more traditional 4-2-3-1 system following their brief, injury-induced dalliance with a 3-1-4-2 set-up in the second half of Saturday’s draw with Motherwell.

McCulloch had also claimed to be suffering from a lack of bodies during Kilmarnock’s pre-match preparations but, come kick off, only two from the side that had started against Inverness Caledonian Thistle had failed to make it. If there were some players sent out only half-fit then it never really showed.

There were interesting sub-plots all over the pitch but none more intriguing than the one that pitched Joe Garner, Rangers’ exuberantly boisterous centre forward, in direct opposition to Kristoffer Ajer, Kilmarnock’s rangy centre back on loan from Celtic. Both gave as good as they got in a competitive duel, the Norwegian at one point nicking the ball off Garner’s toe as he awaited a Martyn Waghorn cross with a tap-in looking likely. Later in the half, with Ajer temporarily posted absent, Garner’s downwards header from a Barrie McKay cross was clawed away by Freddie Woodman who also pushed a header from the same man on to his crossbar early in the second period.

For a patched-up side, Rangers played better than may have been expected for long spells. Their passing and movement on the artificial surface was positive, with Martyn Waghorn looking especially lively. Shots on goal, though, were limited. From one telling Beerman pass, Emerson Hyndman’s low drive was well snuffed out by Woodman in the Kilmarnock goal, while the on-loan Bournemouth player couldn’t finish at the near post after being picked out by a Waghorn cross. The Rangers fans showed their appreciation regardless.

Kilmarnock, unlikely to be troubled by relegation worries this season, threatened only in flashes. Jordan Jones on the left wing seemed to have the beating of James Tavernier – one push in the back earned the Rangers full-back a booking - but only rarely did his team-mates pick the winger out with a telling pass or through ball. An early Gary Dicker header from a Jones free kick was straight at Wes Foderingham, while a mishit cross from Conor Sammon had the goalkeeper back-pedalling furiously to ensure the ball did not drop into his net. The sight of Kris Boyd barking at his midfielders for failing to pick him out once too often told its own story.

Caixinha made his by now traditional half-time change – taking off Hyndman and bringing on Kenny Miller – and it paid instant dividends as Rangers enjoyed some sustained pressure without finding a route to goal. As well as Garner’s header that Woodman did well to redirect onto his crossbar, there were several other half-chances that went unconverted, with Rangers also bawling for a penalty that wasn’t given when Sammon appeared to bat away a McKay corner with an arm. Frustration would become the watchword of their night.