Connor Goldson forced in in the 86th-minute to earn Rangers victory

Rangers had to be “a little bit lucky” to maintain their Scottish Premiership title hopes with a late comeback win over bottom side Dundee, says manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Connor Goldson turned home a loose ball in the 86th minute to make sure the defending champions go into the Old Firm derby three points behind Celtic.

Rangers fell behind to Christie Elliot’s sixth-minute strike before James Tavernier missed a penalty. But Aaron Ramsey’s first goal for the club levelled before Goldson struck.

“It’s a big relief to go away with the three points. It was a tough game,” Van Bronckhorst told Sky Sports.

“We didn’t start really well. Second half, we created more and sometimes you have to be a little bit lucky. And we were in the end when the ball dropped for Connor.

“Today could have cost us again two big points but we kept the belief and worked hard to get the win.”

• Reaction & as it happened

Dundee, meanwhile, stay four points adrift of the relegation play-off place despite a spirited display, with just seven games of the campaign remaining.

The Dens Park side had been swept aside on their own patch by Rangers only seven days ago in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup, when they were 2-0 down after 25 minutes.

But with manager Mark McGhee on the touchline for the first time after completing a six-game ban and recovering from a bout of Covid-19, they started brilliantly and went in front when Elliot met Jordan Marshall’s inch-perfect cross from the left.

Their work rate on an uneven pitch unsettled a lethargic Rangers, and Tavernier’s miscue over the bar from the spot after Jordan McGhee was judged to have pulled Alfredo Morelos’ shirt summed up their first half display.

Van Bronckhorst brought on Joe Aribo and Fashion Sakala at the break, but the game was delayed for a third time as Rangers fans protesting November’s Australia friendly with Celtic threw toilet paper onto the pitch, having earlier flung on tennis balls.

Eventually, though, the team found their groove.

Dundee goalkeeper Ian Lawlor denied Morelos, Aribo and Ramsey before the Welshman finally turned the ball in from two yards out after substitute Kemar Roofe’s header was saved.

Ramsey’s goal and performance will be a boost to Wales as well as Rangers with a World Cup play-off at home to Austria to come on Thursday.

What followed the equaliser was not a Rangers’ siege, but eventually their dominance of the ball told.

Goldson – who scored against Dundee last week – gambled by staying up the pitch after a set-piece, and when another Roofe effort was blocked, the centre-back was there to sweep home the crucial goal.