THERE will be no garlands heading in Mark Warburton's direction this morning. But at least no-one will be calling for his head on a platter.

The Englishman, so his critics would have it, is a man for whom Plan B is simply to do Plan A better. Challenged yesterday to prove that he had learned his lessons from the humbling 5-1 league defeat at Celtic Park in September, Warburton proved beyond doubt that he is capable of compromising on his principles.

He must have searched long and hard a formula to keep this BetFred Cup semi-final alive as long as possible, and this match was unfolding pretty much the way he had schemed it until one piece of quality combination play from Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele obliterated his afternoon in the 87th minute.

Read more: Clint Hill: Old Firm semi-final showing proves that we are a match for CelticThe Herald:

The next trick, ahead of the home meeting with Brendan Rodgers' side on Hogmanay, is to come up with some additional goal threat. While Rangers were credited with three shots on target to Celtic's eight yesterday, it was worth noting that two of them posed little danger whatsoever, and the one which did, Jason Holt's effort from a James Tavernier cross was blocked by Jozo Simunovic before it even reached Craig Gordon. While it is hard to win games in this manner, Warburton's afternoon still has to go down as a qualified success. Or at least it would have been if such a thing ever existed in the interplay between these two bitter rivals.

As much as Rangers always desire to get the ball down and play, the key part of any managerial strategy is an imperative to stopping your opponents doing what they want to do. At this stage in their development, Celtic have the superior resources to play with. Which, if any members of the Rangers team would make into a combined eleven?

Read more: Clint Hill: Old Firm semi-final showing proves that we are a match for Celtic

In one sense, Warburton's hand was forced. With experienced midfield duo Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar unavailable for a variety of reasons, he had little choice but issue a vote of confidence in the energetic central area of the team which functioned so well in the Scottish Cup semi-final between the teams here in April.

That meant Josh Windass, complimented for his performance by Brendan Rodgers in September, started in there with Andy Halliday and Holt as Rangers matched Celtic's midfield three.

There were some other tactical tweaks too. Overlapping full backs are the key feature of Warburton's game plan, but by bringing in Lee Hodson at right back and moving James Tavernier ahead of him on the right, Rangers had a bulwark against the thrusts of Kieran Tierney and Scott Sinclair on that side.

Defence has been Warburton's problem area but the Englishman kept faith in Clint Hill, the former QPR captain who turned 38 this week, and Rob Kiernan, who had been culpable with a few key errors at Celtic Park in September. He was rewarded with an area of the team which worked well as a unit, Hill's experience helping get his team up the field and away from Celtic's ferocious pressing.

While the defender was hugely fortunate to see an Erik Sviatchenko 'goal' wrongly disallowed - for me Hill got caught under the ball then the Dane just stood his ground - that luck eventually ran out. Lee Wallace was caught wrong side against Griffiths from a long Jozo Simunovic pass, and Dembele's cute flick from the substitute's cross went through the legs of both Kiernan and goalkeeper Matt Gilks.

Gilks has the mixed fortune of being Rangers' nominated cup goalkeeper, a somewhat unusual role which leaves some of the club's followers wondering why Wes Foderingham, ostensibly the club's 'No 1' custodian, was on the bench for a match of such magnitude. While that will almost certainly remain the default position going forward, the former Scotland reserve keeper did his cause no harm here. He produced a fine one-on-one save from Scott Sinclair early on, clutched a Sinclair free-kick gratefully after it struck the woodwork, and got down well to a low Stuart Armstrong effort. He even lived to tell that tale after laying the ball off errantly to Tom Rogic early on, leaving the Australian apparently too surprised by it all to take advantage.

That kind of fraught overplaying in bad areas had been a feature of the 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park. But Rangers yesterday were determined not to beat themselves. It was a reductive, conservative, pragmatic game plan and it wasn't too far away from working. While some of the club's supporters may have been quietly dispirited by having to play in this manner, it said it all that many stayed behind to applaud them off the park.