RANGERS took what could well prove to be a significant step towards the Championship title and a place in the Premiership without so much as kicking a ball as their two main rivals cancelled each other out.

The Ibrox club now finds itself five points clear of both Falkirk, who have played one game more than them, and Hibs at the top of the second tier table following this league meeting at Westfield.

If Anthony Stokes completes his loan move to Easter Road today, as is expected, it will certainly make the remainder of the season interesting. Especially if Kevin Thomson, who has held talks with the capital club, joins him. Both men sat in the stands yesterday.

But this appeared to be a hugely important result for the league leaders. “The biggest winners today were Rangers,” admitted Peter Houston, the Falkirk manager, afterwards. “They’ll be happy with the result.”

Allan Stubbs’ side could certainly have done with a finisher with the quality of Stokes in this run-out. His charges battered their opponents in the closing stages, but could, despite their best efforts, find no way through them. Liam Fontaine, Dylan McGeouch and Darren McGregor all had shots blocked.

Jason Cummings, who had got them back on level terms, had an excellent chance to win the game for the visitors with five minutes remaining when he burst through on goal. Danny Rogers, though, produced an excellent save to effectively earn the home side a point.

Stubbs preferred to look on the match as a point gained than two dropped. “We’re the only team that’s beaten Falkirk at their place,” he said. “So that tells you how well we’ve done and that it’s not an easy place to come to. It could prove to be a really good point come the end of the season, you just don’t know.”

The less said about the first half here the better. That there were no shots on target told its own story. Will Vaulks of Falkirk went close with a long-range attempt and his team mate Luke Leahy fired over after receiving possession from Mark Kerr in the opposition area. But, those efforts aside, nothing of note happened in the opening 45 minutes.

The tentativeness of both sides’ play could probably be attributed to the importance of the fixture. It was desperate fare. But when the home team took the lead four minutes after the start of the second half the game came alive and both sets of supporters in the 7,081-strong crowd were roused from their torpor.

It was going to take an exceptional piece of skill to break the dour stalemate and Blair Alston provided it. John Baird squared an Aaron Muirhead pass to his feet and he exhibited great composure to control the ball and slot the ball beyond Mark Oxley and into the net.

Stubbs removed the hitherto ineffective James Keatings and put on Liam Henderson almost immediately. That change, coupled with the fact they had fallen a goal behind, led directly to Hibs coming more into the game.

The visitors had what appeared to be a strong penalty claim waved away by referee John Beaton when Leahy appeared to bring down John McGinn inside his own penalty box. “I don’t know why it wasn’t given,” said Stubbs later. “If there’s contact in the box and you go down it’s a penalty.

“John has probably been penalised for being too honest. He should have just rolled around. But it doesn’t make any difference whether somebody tries to get up or there are no appeals for it. It’s irrelevant. Those outside influences should not have a bearing on the decision.”

They finally levelled in the 73rd minute when Rogers diverted a low drive by McGregor into the path of Cummings. The 20-year-old made no mistake from a few yards out with an empty net beckoning invitingly to take his personal goal haul in the 2015/16 campaign to 17 in all competitions.

“With Anthony we are hoping to get it tied up in the morning,” he said. “There is a bit of paperwork and we need to speak to Celtic. I was surprised Anthony was available. We found out last week something could happen and it all seemed to happen quite quickly.

“Kevin will give us a bit of experience in the dressing room and he will probably incorporate some coaching with the younger groups. “We have an excellent group now and thanks must go to the chairman, the board and all the supporters for helping me to do that. It’s very reassuring that we are all on the same page.

“The fact that both Anthony and Kevin have won things in their careers is very important because we are getting to the stage in the season when things will start too pan out and give us a real indication of how we are going to finish the season. I expect us to be very, very strong.”

Houston’s side overcame Mark Warburton’s team last month. But he feels they have a definite edge on the rest of the division. “Rangers to me look just that wee bit ahead of the rest,” he said. “I see them as being probably the best team in the league. I don’t mean any disrespect to Hibs at all. They are a very good team and have good players. But I just think Rangers are that wee bit above them.”