After two home defeats in a row Rangers looked to get back to winning ways last night against Plymouth Argyle. Ian Holloway made two changes to the side that drew at Preston. Marc Bircham and Tom Doherty came in for Georges Santos and the injured Steve Lomas. Ian Evatt and Marc Nygaard both started a game for the first time at home and were looking to impress. There was also a return for Richard Langley who was among the substitutes after missing the Preston game through injury.

Rangers must have lost the toss as we attacked the Loft in the first half. We started the game well. Plymouths game plan was clear from the first minute, get eleven men behind the ball and hang on for the draw. Rangers were going to need to be patient and make the most of their chances.

Ian Evatt almost got on the score sheet with an early set piece. A free kick curled into the box found Evatt but his header lacked the power to get past the keeper.

Rangers were knocking the ball about well but lacking that killer pass to open up the visitors. A nice ball by Furlong sent Cook away on the left and he beat his full back and found Nygaard with a cross but the big Danish striker couldn’t get his header on target.

Kevin Gallen was having a good game on the right wing. He seemed to have licence to roam into the middle when he wanted which allowed Bignot to get forward. This worked quite well in the first half and Bignot was causing a few problems on the right.

Gallen’s passing was helping us keep possession and several times he played cross field balls to Cook but unfortunately the Rangers winger had worn his slippers instead of boots and struggled to stay on his feet.

From open play we were playing some nice stuff but not really creating much. We got another chance from a Cook free kick but again Evatt couldn’t get enough power on his effort to beat the keeper.

A lovely build up should have brought the first goal. Gallen, Bircham, Furlong and Nygaard were all involved in moving the ball around quickly on the floor, in the end Cook was found with a defence splitting pass and Cook had time and space in the box to pick his spot. For some reason though he elected to cross rather than shoot and his cross was floated behind Furlong and easily cleared. A golden chance wasted.

Rangers continued to dominate but despite all our possession we didn’t seem to have it in us to create many chances from open play. Again a set piece was our best chance and Marc Nygaard looked like he was going to get on the end of a Cook delivery only to have his shirt pulled to knock him off balance. It was a clear penalty but the referee never gave it.

After an improved performance it was a real sucker punch to see us go a goal behind with Plymouths first attack of the game. Buszaky was given far too much space as he collected the ball 30 yards out. Neither Doherty nor Bircham were quick enough to close him down and he smashed in a brilliant shot from 30 yards out giving Royce no chance.

Loftus Road fell into a stunned silence and Rangers looked shell shocked. Plymouth almost made it two soon after when Wooten headed wide from a good position. We soon regained our composure though and Gallen went close with a header just before the break after a good cross in by Bignot. At half time a few boos were heard but in truth it hadn’t been that bad a performance to warrant the jeers, we’d played pretty well in patches and deserved to be ahead rather than a goal down.

The second half was always going to be tough attacking the school end but we should have got level with one of our first attacks of the half. Evatt found Cook with a good ball out from the back and his cross was perfect for Paul Furlong but Furs is just not in any kind of form at the moment and he headed wide.

A Tom Doherty free kick found Marc Nygaard soon after and his header beat the keeper but was hacked off the line as we pushed for a deserved equaliser. It really should have come after another neat move. Doherty found Cook out wide and his cross was an excellent one, Nygaard rose to meet it but had his shirt almost ripped off as he was pulled and then pushed to the floor. A clear penalty but nothing given, even Tony Pullis the Plymouth manager agreed it was blatant.

The game was getting frustrating now and Holloway opted for a change. Gareth Ainsworth replaced Tom Doherty which didn’t go down well with the fans but to be fair Doherty had been booked and was starting to lose it as he got in a running battle with a Plymouth midfielder.

Doherty didn't look happy though and stormed down the tunnel, Holloway pulled him back and looked like he was having a huge argument with his player in the dugout, which wasn’t great to see.

The switch saw Gallen move into central midfield and he continued doing an excellent job for the team, passing the ball well and creating openings for others. A goal had to come and Rangers continued to push for it. Lee Cook came close with a lovely chip from outside the box, which the keeper did well to tip over the bar.

From the corner we got level. Gallen's ball in was flicked on by Nygaard and punched away by a Plymouth defender. Even this clown of a referee couldn’t get that wrong and promptly gave us the penalty. Gallen ran to pick up the ball and made no mistake, firing into the top corner to make it 1-1.

Now for the win and Rangers were the only team in it now. A good run by Ainsworth created another golden chance as he pulled it back to Furlong his but his shot was high over the bar when he should have scored.

We kept pushing for the winner but Plymouth had everybody back and we just couldn’t find a way through. Nygaard went close again before Ainsworth shot over from a Gallen corner.

Holloway made two further changes. Sturridge replaced furlong but bizarrely Cook was taken off in the 92nd minute with Santos coming on for 15 seconds. You could see the idea was to get another big man on to try and nick something but the timing was farcical.

So in the end another draw and a game we should have won. This was an improved performance though, we tried to play the ball on the floor and looked a decent side at times. We still lacked that killer instinct in the box and we really need to start taking our chances to kill teams off. I thought Holloway should have brought Langley on to offer a different option in midfield during the second half.

The positives of the game were the performances of Gallen, Nygaard and Bignot who were all excellent.

The downside again though was a lack of creativity ion central midfield. We played some decent football but are crying out for a Langley or Rowlands alongside Doherty to open teams up at home.

The inability to do this has turned a lot of fans against Ian Holloway, which is sad to see, but the manager is going to have to adapt a more attacking midfield at home if he is to push the team on to a playoff push.

Man of the Match: Kevin Gallen
Players Ratings: Royce 7, Bignot 8, Dyer 6, Evatt 7, Shittu 7, Doherty 7 (Ainsworth 7), Bircham 6, Gallen 8, Cook 7 (Santos 5), Furlong 6 (Sturridge 6), Nygaard 7