Rangers slipped up in their pursuit of William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts by drawing a blank against Hibernian at Easter Road.
The Jambos’ 3-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice on Saturday night had added pressure to the trip to Leith and Danny Rohl’s side failed to respond.
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland helped to keep David Gray’s side at bay in the first half as the visitors laboured.
The second half was much more of the same as far as Rangers were concerned, with Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger far from busy albeit he was beaten by a shot from substitute Mikey Moore who was offside.
There was no late siege by the Ibrox men, who can have few complaints about two points dropped to sit six points behind Hearts.
Rangers had to regroup after their 3-1 humbling against Porto in their doomed Europa League campaign on Thursday, their first loss in nine games in all competitions.
Three new January signings – Denmark winger Andreas Skov Olsen, Danish midfielder Tochi Chukwuani and Belgian left-back Tuur Rommens – were ineligible for the game in Portugal but the former two returned to the line-up, as did right-back Dujon Sterling, stand-in captain John Souttar and Thelo Aasgaard.
Fifth-placed Hibs, who lost their previous two games, sold top scorer Kieron Bowie to Italian side Hellas Verona on Friday for a reported fee of between £6million and £7m but added 19-year-old pair Kai Andrews and Owen Elding and 21-year-old Dan Scarlett this week – all three started on the bench while Elie Youan and Joe Newell returned.
However, there were only 10 minutes gone when midfielder Andrews, on loan from Coventry, had to take over from the injured Miguel Chaiwa.
Hibs began to motor after a slow start and in the 23rd minute Youan’s cross from the left was headed wide by the unmarked Newell, but the home side kept up the pressure.
Butland parried away an angled drive from Youan before tipping a better effort from the Frenchman over the bar for a corner, which ultimately came to nothing.
Three minutes from the break Rangers defender Emmanuel Fernandez failed to cut out a routine long ball which allowed Hibs forward Martin Boyle to run clear, but again Butland blocked to rescue Rangers, who escaped again a minute later when Youan missed a header in front of goal.
The game returned to a more even keel after the break but Rohl soon brought on Moore for the anonymous Djeidi Gassama in a bid to provide some threat to Hibs keeper Sallinger.
Rangers stepped up the tempo but the Leith outfit broke again in the 62nd minute and Youan’s shot from inside the box was blocked by a combination of Sterling and Souttar.
Moore had the ball in the Hibs net with a left-footed shot in the 76th minute after taking a long pass from Souttar but he was ruled offside, with VAR confirming the decision.
Play sped from end to end with the home side, if anyone, looking more likely but having to settle for the point.
It was a slip-up that Rangers can ill afford, with Hibs doing their Edinburgh rivals a favour that would not have been on any list of priorities.
