Rangers 4 Falkirk 0

Lewis Macleod celebrated his Scotland call-up with a goal and an assist as Rangers beat Falkirk 4-0 in the Scottish Championship.

The 20-year-old headed Rangers two ahead in the 69th minute at Ibrox days after being named in Gordon Strachan's squad for the first time ahead of the European Championship qualifier against Republic of Ireland and the friendly against England.

The goal was the midfielder's eighth of the season and he soon set up Kenny Miller to put Rangers three up. Nicky Law had fired the opener in the 25th minute after some slack defending from Falkirk, who put on a decent show until being caught on the break for Macleod's goal.

Substitute Nicky Clark rounded off the scoring as Rangers remained four points behind leaders Hearts following their eighth consecutive victory in all competitions.

After a blast from an artillery gun began a Remembrance minute's silence in front of 33,359 fans, Rangers began in less explosive fashion amid torrential rain.

Ally McCoist's side struggled to carve open Falkirk in the first quarter and Jamie MacDonald was quickly off his line to foil Miller when they did get in behind.

The visitors were attacking when they got the chance but David Smith finished poorly after good work from Luke Leahy and Darren McGregor put in an excellent block on Rory Loy to stop a counter-attack.

But Peter Houston's men crumbled in the 25th minute after the home side's first spell of sustained pressure. They initially defended well, Joe Shaughnessy putting in a crucial challenge on Lee Wallace after Macleod had put Falkirk on the back foot with an exquisite long pass.

Macleod then split the defence with a pass to Miller but again MacDonald narrowed the angle and blocked. The Bairns struggled to deal with the resulting corner though with Darren McGregor and Miller seeing efforts half-cleared before David Templeton put the ball back into the goalmouth.

Peter Grant blocked it but Smith was caught waiting for the ball to come to him and Law nipped in and fired it into the bottom corner from six yards. Falkirk tried to hit back before the break but Shaughnessy skewed a shot wide after running from his own half and Will Vaulks saw a 20-yard strike deflected just wide after good skill.

The Bairns kept plugging away and Shaughnessy beat Rangers goalkeeper Steve Simonsen to a corner but could not keep his header down. But they were leaving gaps at the back and Templeton had several chances, hitting one wide and having two other efforts deflected out of harm's way.

And Rangers punished them when Blair Alston's flick went straight to a light blue shirt following a Falkirk throw-in deep inside the home side's half. Miller broke and fed Jon Daly, on moments earlier for Kris Boyd, and the Irishman crossed for Macleod to arrive on the six-yard line and bullet a header into the net.

Macleod soon moved from left midfield to the right when Steven Smith replaced Templeton but he was just as effective, arrowing a low cross from 18 yards across the goalmouth for Miller to slide in and steer home in the 75th minute.

Rangers went further ahead in the 82nd minute when Wallace burst to the bye-line yards from goal and forced the ball back for Nicky Clark to guide into the empty net with MacDonald stranded.

Vaulks drove just wide from 25 yards and Loy had a header saved as Falkirk pushed for a consolation goal.