Ropey Rangers suffered another case of the away day blues as they were held to a Dens Park draw by Tony Docherty’s determined Dundee.

An Ibrox outfit that had won only three of their first 10 Premiership road trips stalled again on Tayside. And it prompted a furious backlash from the travelling faithful, who told their boss Philippe Clement where to go at full-time. Dundee striker Oluwaseun Adewumi swept them ahead early doors as Clement’s shaky backline - featuring kid defender Clinton Nsiala for the first time - let nerves get the better of them.

The hosts felt they should have had a penalty when Nsiala sent Simon Murray tumbling in the box. But as Docherty’s team appealed for the penalty, Rangers raced forward to level through Vaclav Cerny. But it wasn’t enough to stop Gers spilling yet more points on their travels, having spilled a whopping 21 away from home so far.

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It means they now trail Brendan Rodgers table-topping Celtic by 15 points. But the result is a boost to Dundee’s top six ambitions, with the Dark Blues now only a point behind St Mirren.

With the Ibrox backline down to the bare bones, you could understand the visitors being a little cautious in defence. But even the travelling punters who have seen their team suffer all manner of mishap on the road this term were shocked by the shambolic start made by Clement’s men.

Connor Barron, Nsiala and Robin Propper all had chances to clear as Dundee worked the ball into the corner. But when they failed to do the basics it saw the ball bounce for Scott Tiffoney.

The midfielder’s blocked shot squirmed out to Josh Mulligan, who picked out Burnley loanee Adewumi to sweep home the sixth-minute opener. The response to that early set-back was hardly emphatic as Rangers laboured.

However, they did claw themselves level on 34 minutes - but only after a huge scare. Simon Murray went down claiming a penalty as he collided with Nsiala in the box. It looked clumsy from the Frenchman but referee Calum Scott allowed play to go on.

And from that let off - verified by VAR - Rangers didn’t hang about. The fizzed ball from keeper Liam Kelly to Ianis Hagi was impressive, with the Romanian killing the ball dead with a peach of a first touch.

The rest of the move was just as slick as Hamza Igamane slippers the ball through Cesar Garza’s legs to Cerny, who squeezed the ball past Trevor Carson for the equaliser. Cerny thought he had another on 55 minutes when Ryan Astley’s slip let a Jefte cross run across the box but Carson pulled off a fins save.

It was Dundee celebrating soon after as Adewumi tucked home from a Murray cross - but the smiles were wiped from their faces when an offside sprung up. Carson was tested again by a stinging Igamane strike.

The keeper could only stand and watch though as Mohamed Diomande rattled the cross-bar with a swirling strike that thankfully for Dundee bounced clear. That left only the full-time whistle, which was met by a furious chorus of boos from the away end as they let rip at their beleaguered boss.

No Thursday thrills for Gers as pressure mounts on Clement

Be it adventures in the Europa League or their recent Old Firm triumph, Rangers have saved their best work for Thursday nights. But this was every bit as grim as the rotten displays that have seen Gers spill 10 points from 12 over the festive period.

Lacklustre from the off, they were punished early by Oluwaseun Adewumi clinical strike. Vaclav Cerny pulled them level but you could hardly say Gers deserved it.

They continued going through the motions after the break but could have snatched it late on as Mohamed DIomande struck the crossbar. That wasn’t enough spare Gers, with the players trudging off meekly as the furious punters chanted “Clement, Clement, get to f**k”.

Nervy Nsiala

With five defenders out injured, Clement was forced to throw a surprise start to Clinton Nsiala. The former AC Milan kid was signed in the summer but this was his first ever senior start for the 20-year-old Frenchman.

And he got off to a rocky start as his under-cooked clearance allowed Dundee to pile on the pressure for Oluwanseun Adewumi’s opener. But Clement has high hopes for the young defender, saying on Wednesday: “He’s only played academy football until now in Milan.

“So it’s a big step to be competitive with Rangers. But he’s taking really good steps the last couple of months. He’s more and more competitive in the squad with the other players, so that’s positive.”

And he copped better with the challenge the longer the game went on. It remains to be seen if he’ll feature more as they season goes on. One thing’s for sure, Nsiala’s emergence doesn’t bode well for Leon King.

The Barrhead appeared in all six Champions League clashes for Gio van Bronckhorst a couple of season’s back and was brought off the bench for his first run-out since May when Dujon Sterling limped off in Leith. But his return didn’t last long as he was bombed out for the summer signing.

Patrick Stewart’s got some explaining to do

Clement has repeatedly refused to answer questions on Rangers’ plans for this month’s transfer window, insisting three times now that it will be down to new CEO Patrick Stewart to set out what - if any - business the Light Blues plan to do before January 31. The suspicion is that with cash tight at Ibrox it will be at most one new face arriving.

But with James Tavernier, Jack Butland, John Souttar, Leon Balogun, Nana Kasanwirjo and now Dujon Sterling all out, Rangers are crying out for reinforcements in defence. The Ibrox faithful will be eager to hear what Stewart has to say when he eventually sits down with the media for a grilling. But the truth is they may not like what he has to say.

Pitch perfect

They say the grass isn’t always greener but in Dens Park’s case it certainly is. Gers saw their faint title hopes sink last season after a goalless draw on Dundee’s boggy pitch proved to be the result which sent Celtic sailing off into the distance.

It took three attempts to get that April showdown on after torrential downpours flooded the playing surface - leading to the Dark Blues copping an SPFL rap. But they made sure there would be no repeat of those drainage issues by investing a six-figure sum over the summer. And fair play it’s been money well spent because the surface was like a bowling green despite the Baltic temperatures on Tayside.

Penalty pain

It’s only a couple of weeks since Tony Docherty accused his team of criminal defending as they threw away a precious derby win over United. But the Dens side will feel it was his side who were robbed of a huge result by the officials.

They certainly had a strong spot-kick claim after Nsiala clumsily barged into Simon Murray just seconds before Rangers raced forward for their equaliser. It’s the kind of luck the Taysiders haven’t been getting lately. They had to do without Rangers target Lyall Cameron out but despite this more than matched the Light Blues.

They might only have enjoyed 19 percent possession in the opening 20 minutes but that still saw them out-create their guests 7-1 as they got off to a flyer with Adewumi’s goal. Cerny pulled Gers level but it’s still a useful result for Dundee, who now sit just a point off the top six.