CANCEL the post-mortem and call off the undertakers – there is life in this patient yet.
It certainly wasn’t easy on the eye with chances for either side at a minimum but such niceties won’t bother McLeish as he awaits the draw for the Fourth Round.
Goals at the tail end of each half – a Fernando Ricksen free kick and a scrappy Steven Thompson effort – were enough to see off a stubborn Dons side although the injury-time dismissal for Bob Malcolm put a slight dampener on proceedings.
Nostalgia tends to stalk McLeish on these return visits to Pittodrie and never more so than on this occasion when, perhaps for the first time since his playing days, Aberdeen welcomed Rangers to the north-east with a serious belief that they could turn the Glasgow side over.
The bookies, cautious as ever, still had Rangers installed as their pre-match favourites although recent form suggested otherwise, with Aberdeen having conceded only one goal in their undefeated start to the season and the Light Blues struggling to hit top form.
Given the traditionally raucous atmosphere that tends to surround this fixture, the first half unfolded in rather tame fashion although the home side certainly enjoyed the best of the early chances.
Less than two minutes in and Stefan Klos had to be alert to rob Darren Mackie as he looked to capitalise on a defensive mix-up before Steven Craig slid an effort wide after Richard Foster had made a hash of a back post header.
With the injury list at Ibrox currently resembling something from the Vietnam War, McLeish had been forced to again reshuffle his side.
Dado Prso, Mo Ross and the unfortunate Dragan Mladenovic were the latest casualties ruled out of action – taking their place in the Murray Park treatment room alongside Alex Rae, Gavin Rae, Hamed Namouchi, Alan Hutton and Michael Ball – meaning Malcolm and Thompson were handed starting slots for the first time this season.
The Scotland striker was involved in Rangers’ first chance of the opening period as he pirouetted onto a neat pass from Gregory Vignal before slamming a low drive just past David Preece’s post, and spurred on by his team-mate’s bravery, Paolo Vanoli ventured forward to launch a drive that soared over the crossbar moments later.
Just when it seemed the sides would troop up the tunnel scoreless at the break, Rangers went in front with a wondrous goal as out of place in this torpid first half as a troop of Girl Guides on a pub crawl.
Seconds into injury time, a hitherto ineffective Shota Arveladze wriggled clear of Russell Anderson only for his marker to end his goalwards charge with a late tackle at the edge of the penalty box.
Vanoli and Ricksen both stood over the ball and while the Aberdeen wall waited for a piledriver from the Italian it was the Dutchman who approached the ball before curling a sweet shot high past Preece.
That was to be the last incident of the first half and, when the teams returned after the interval, it would take another 14 minutes before either keeper was called into action once more.
Unsurprisingly, given the scrappy nature of the encounter, the move came from another set piece as Derek Adams swung over a corner, Scott Severin powered a header goalwards and Klos instinctively threw up a fist to thwart the effort.
Rangers were fortunate to survive another Dons chance after 65 minutes when Vignal dithered on the ball and was robbed by Steve Tosh who swung in a dangerous cross from wide on the right.
Craig Moore opted to leave the ball unaware of the danger behind him and the lurking Scott Muirhead should have done better than dragging his shot wide of target.
The untidy nature of the match was summed up in a period midway through the second half where ref Kenny Clark flashed four yellow cards in eight minutes – more than there had been shots on target throughout the entire 90 minutes.
Having already netted from a Ricksen free kick, Rangers tried to pull off the same trick 13 minutes from time although on this occasion Preece was able to block the Dutchman’s fiercely struck attempt and then collect the rebound ahead of the in-rushing Arveladze.
Rangers made secure their passage into the next round with a second goal two minutes from time.
Substitute Nacho Novo worked a pass out to Burke and when the winger centred the ball Thompson was first to react to slide a shot past Preece.
Only a late second booking for Malcolm for a foul on Adams took a slight sheen off what was a decent night’s work for the Ibrox side.
RANGERS (4-4-2): 1 Klos; 15 Khizanishvili, 4 Boumsong, 3 Moore, 24 Vignal; 17 Burke, 2 Ricksen, 12 Malcolm, 16 Vanoli; 7 Arveladze (Novo 86), 19 Thompson
Subs not used: Smith, Andrews, Hughes, Lovenkrands
Booked: Malcolm (70)
Sent Off: Malcolm (92)
ABERDEEN (4-4-2): 1 Preece; 15 Hart, 2 McGuire, 4 Anderson, 3 McNaughton; 7 Tosh, 6 Severin, 10 Adams, 21 Foster; 9 Craig (Muirhead 43), 14 Mackie
Subs not used: Esson, Morrison, Tiernan, Considine
Booked: Foster (62), Adams (66), McNaughton (69)
Rangers’ Man of the Match: Fernando Ricksen