Warburton sweating skipper's fitness ahead of Old Firm clash

Rangers boss Mark Warburton is keeping his fingers crossed skipper Lee Wallace has not suffered an injury which could rule him out of next week's Old Firm clash.

The left-back sustained a worrying knock 10 minutes from the end of Gers' narrow 1-0 win over Inverness at Ibrox.

With the Light Blues' substitutions used up, Wallace was forced to hobble through the final stages as the hosts clung on for a victory secured thanks to Brad McKay's first-half own goal.

Gers face St Johnstone in Perth on Wednesday before welcoming Celtic to Govan for the first time in four years on Hogmanay.

And Warburton is desperate to have his captain available to face Brendan Rodgers' rampant Ladbrokes Premiership leaders.

Asked what the prognosis was for the defender, the Rangers manager said: We have to see how he is.We thought it was an impact injury from the corner. He got a bang going for the ball.

We will see how he presents later on this evening but hopefully it's nothing too serious.''

Gers clinched their fourth straight victory as they edged out Caley Thistle.

But there was none of the spark that drove Gers to their recent victories over Aberdeen, Hearts and Hamilton.

McKay turned the ball into his own net after 13 minutes when he failed to get out of the way of Martyn Waghorn's cross.

The Light Blues, though, had keeper Wes Foderingham to thank for the win as he produced a string of saves to keep the Highlanders at bay.

It was a poor performance,'' admitted Warburton.We were loose in possession and loose out of possession. Our shape wasn't good and we gave the ball away very cheaply.

But the boys battled and scraped and got the win. I said to the players we've had a bad day in terms of our quality but they emerged with the three points so all credit to them.

If you can have an off day and still emerge with the spoils it speaks volumes for the team.

We've got four victories out of four, we're at 38 points now out of 19 games so we're moving forward.''

Gers' victory cements their place in second spot, giving the Ibrox side a seven-point cushion over Aberdeen.

But Caley Thistle now prop up the top flight after suffering their ninth defeat of the campaign.

However, boss Richie Foran reckons his side did not deserve to leave Glasgow empty-handed.

He said: I think the fact Rangers struggled is all down to us. I thought we controlled the game and absolutely dominated the first half.

We cut them open on numerous occasions and were solid at the back. I can't ask for much more than that.

We were just lacking that wee bit of magic.

Unfortunately we were up against a goalkeeper in unbelievable form. It's soul-destroying how we don't come away with more than a point today.''