Warburton: "Waghorn in contention for cup final"

Rangers boss Mark Warburton says top-scorer Martyn Waghorn has played himself into cup final contention after finally making his comeback from injury.

The 28-goal striker spent 11 weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury but looked sharp during the hour he managed on his return to action in Gers' 2-2 draw at St Mirren.

The Ibrox side now have three weeks to prepare for their William Hill Scottish Cup final with Hibernian and Warburton is confident his chief marksman will be able to play a full part.

Gers will head south to take on a Tottenham line-up in a closed-doors clash on May 11 and the manager believes the London date will be enough to get Waghorn back up to speed.

Warburton said: “It is all credit to him and the physios for the work that has been done. He has come back, is fit, hungry, sharp and you can see that he wants to play. We are delighted to get an hour out of him, he will play 75 minutes in the Spurs game, and will be ready for the final.

“He has a chance of starting. He has worked hard and looked really fit. He looked as if he hadn't been away. There was no rustiness to speak of on a difficult surface and I thought he was very good.

“He has made a good case for selection.”

Rangers were making their final appearance in the lower leagues at the Paisley 2021 Stadium as they prepare to make their return to Scotland's top-flight after four years away.

But they dropped points for the fourth game running since their cup semi-final triumph over Old Firm foes Celtic.

Waghorn came close when he hit the post after 19 minutes but his side fell behind to a Calum Gallagher strike just before half-time.

Gers levelled with Kenny Miller's 20th goal of the season nine minutes into the second period, while Jason Holt thought he had given them the points when he angled a shot past Jamie Langfield two minutes from time.

But Lewis Morgan grabbed a last-ditch leveller to heap more frustration on Warburton.

However, the Englishman is not concerned about his side's lack of form heading to Hampden.

He said: “I was delighted with the second half. The pitch was dry and difficult for both teams, but the lads were brave on the ball, we had runners, created chances and hit the woodwork. We have to look at the equaliser but that's game two of our lead-up to the final.

“It was a second half, it's just a shame the 92nd-minute equaliser dampened things a bit.

“That was the reaction I wanted after the Livingston game. We had lots of good things. We were really good in the second half.”

But Warburton distanced himself from reports linking him with the vacant Everton job.

The former Brentford boss has had to deal with speculation surrounding a variety of clubs in England since taking over at Ibrox and said: “Who is it this time? I can't stop that.

“The only time you get linked to big clubs is when the players are doing well.

“It's as simple as that. If you lose 12 on the spin you won't be linked with any jobs. Don't forget they won the league convincingly, they won the Petrofac and beat Celtic in the semi-final and have reached a domestic final.

“It's all credit to the players. It will be Barcelona and Real Madrid next!”

The St Mirren faithful gave an emotional farewell to Stevie Thompson and Jim Goodwin at full-time as the veteran servants made their final appearances for the club.

Boss Alex Rae said: “It was important for us to give Thommo and Jim some match-time today. They've been great for this club and since I've come in they've been very helpful and very professional.”