Rangers stand on verge of CRISIS as Michael Stewart and Ibrox daft pundit spot clue meltdown 'isn't far away'

Stewart and Alan Hutton believe recent results have papered over the cracks

It's been four wins from four and no goals conceded for Rangers since their defeat to Celtic - but a full on 'crisis' still isn't far away.

That's the view of pundits Alan Hutton and Michael Stewart who agree it could all have turned had Hibs scored their penalty at the weekend. Philippe Clement has steadied the ship since being thumped at Parkhead with three wins across four competitions, convincingly dispatching of Malmo in Sweden on Thursday before their 1-0 win at Ibrox at the weekend.

Tom Lawrence's stunner was enough there, with Jack Butland coming to the rescue from the penalty spot after John Souttar was penalised for handball - leading to a heavily-memed press-room demonstration from boss Clement over why it shouldn't have been a spot-kick. Had Mykola Kukharevych dispatched of that penalty, however, Hutton and Stewart both believe the narrative of resurgence around Ibrox would be wildly different.

Speaking on the Scottish Football Social Club, Hutton kicked things off by saying: "They huffed and puffed. This was off the back of a really good performance in Malmo, probably their best of the season. But I just expected them to go and put their foot down. When Hibs get the penalty, and for me it was a penalty... I was worried, thinking if it's 1-1, where does this end up? Hibs became the better team in the second half, Rangers struggled, and you could feel the tension build in the stadium.

"I kept on thinking it's as if they're just one step away from being in a crisis. That's the moment it felt like, going from an amazing performance to that, it was a worry."

And Stewart agreed as he added: "Watching that game, after all the positivity in Sweden, had that result against Hibs not been three points, it would have been (a crisis). The pressure would have been intense and it would have been so much negativity thrown right back onto the team. It wasn't far away from being that. Hibs performed pretty well, but they didn't win, and Rangers did. That ultimately is the most important thing."

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