Harry Forrester hails Rangers' character after late winner

Harry Forrester claimed his first goal for Rangers in a 1-0 Championship win over St Mirren showed the fighting spirit at the Ibrox club.

The 25-year-old attacking midfielder, who signed from Doncaster Rovers in December until the end of the season, replaced Jason Holt in the 70th minute as the Light Blues struggled to break down the well-drilled Buddies at Ibrox.

And with four minutes remaining he drove high past goalkeeper Jamie Langfield for three crucial points which took Rangers 11 clear of second-placed Hibernian, who lost 3-2 at Dumbarton, with 10 games remaining.

It was a very important win, the three points are key and to get it late on shows we never give up,'' said Forrester.

We have scored a few late goals since I have been here and we will fight to the end.

When you are on the sidelines you are there to do a job whenever you are called upon.

The gaffer said go on and make an impact and I did that today, as Nicky (Clark) did at Kilmarnock (in the Scottish Cup win).

Every goal is crucial when you get the three points but we won't look too far ahead.

We have a game on Tuesday and we look to kick on with another three points.

For me, the goal is just a confidence-booster more than anything.

My gaffer had shown faith in me, bringing me here and putting me on and hopefully we can kick on and I can kick on too.''

Rangers boss Mark Warburton refused to read too much into his side's extended lead at the top of the table - there are still 30 points to play for'' but praised the contribution of Forrester.

We have a good record here at Ibrox and it is a huge three points,'' he said.

We are delighted for Harry, he made a good impression from the outset.

He is really keen to impress, he is a young player, technically gifted and so keen to do well.

I am delighted that the fans saw how good he can be.''

St Mirren manager Alex Rae was extremely disappointed'' with the manner in which his side conceded the goal as a clearance from defender Gary Irvine landing at the feet of Michael O'Halloran, who passed to Forrester to finish from inside the box.

However, the former Gers midfielder was pleased overall with his side's performance.

We had possession and put ourselves under pressure, which resulted in a poor clearance, and then we were a bit stretched,'' he said.

But they bring on some good quality players as well, which makes a difference.

They are fresh, whereas we were fire-fighting but in the main we can take a lot of positives from that game.

We limited them to a couple of free-kicks and in general we did very well. I thought we might have nicked one but it wasn't to be.''