On loan winger Billy King crowns Rangers debut with last-gasp winner

Mark Warburton admits debut goal hero Billy King should never had been in the box to score Rangers' last-gasp winner against Falkirk.

The Hearts youngster clinched a surprise six-month loan switch to Ibrox this week and made an instant impact as he dived to plant a stoppage-time header past Bairns keeper Danny Rogers to seal a 1-0 Ladbrokes Championship victory.

The Jambos winger trained just once with his new team-mates before making his Ibrox bow off the bench.

And boss Warburton confessed the 21-year-old has yet to get to grips with his game plan and should have been hugging the touchline when James Tavernier swung in the cross for the clincher two minutes into injury time.

The Englishman said: 'Billy did well. I looked up looking for our wide right player but he wasn't there. Billy doesn't know how we shape up but all credit to him, it was great timing of the run and a good finish.'

Hearts say they expect to see their player back at Tynecastle in the summer but Warburton - who says work is 'on going' as he looks to add a couple more fresh recruits ahead of Monday's transfer deadline - refused to rule out making a permanent bid for King come the summer.

'He has come in on loan,' the manager said. 'He has a contract with his parent club so we will just see how it goes.'

King's energetic intervention was just what Rangers required as they toiled to break the Bairns down.

There was little excitement for the hosts in a drab first half, while Kenny Miller was flagged offside just after the interval as he found the net from a deflected Martyn Waghorn cross.

Falkirk had chances too, most notably when Gers keeper Wes Foderingham pushed a Will Vaulks shot back into traffic five minutes before half-time.

John Baird pounced on the rebound but was denied by Danny Wilson's goal-line block.

But King handed Gers a vital win at the death to send the Light Blues eight points clear of second-placed Hibs, who were busy clinching a place in the League Cup final.

'We know as a squad we were below our best today,' said Warburton. 'It was a bit laboured and we lacked quality and self-belief, especially in the final third. But we remained patient and that paid off with a great ball from Tav and a great run and finish from Billy. It's really pleasing. Sometimes you have to win ugly. I think it is one of those victories that wins you titles.'

He added 'Sometimes you have your flowing football and you walk off comfortable winners but today was a tough test. We had to be wary of them on the counter but we know we were sloppy today. It was important to get the three points and put a little daylight between us and third.'

Falkirk now drop 10 points behind the leaders but disappointed Falkirk boss Peter Houston says he can take consolation from his side's progress.

'It's hard to take - it was cruel - but football can be like that,' he said.

'Maybe I'm biased but I felt their keeper had more saves to make than ours did. However, I think that shows you how far Falkirk have come over the last year that it takes a goal in the 90th minute at home for Rangers - a team who are putting four and five past sides every week - to beat us.'