The Ibrox side knew they needed maximum points at Fir Park to keep within touching distance of their great rivals but, despite plenty of chances for both sides, the clash ended in stalemate.

The only real positive was Ferguson's first start of the season, after recovering from ankle surgery in the summer, when he replaced Kevin Thomson after he was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with serious knee damage sustained at Kilmarnock.

Manager Walter Smith made one other change from the 4-0 win at Rugby Park, with Nacho Novo dropped in favour of Kyle Lafferty, while Motherwell made an enforced change after losing to Celtic, with Steven McGarry given the nod in place of the suspended David Clarkson.

Rangers had the first real chance of the game when Lafferty had a crack at goal from 22 yards but his effort was comfortably smothered by Graeme Smith in the Motherwell goal.

Ferguson then claimed to be fouled on the edge of the box by Mark Reynolds. No free-kick was forthcoming but the ball broke to Kris Boyd who drew another save from Smith with a long-range shot.

At the other end, Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor was called into action to parry a ferocious strike from Keith Lasley. He spilled the ball but his defence managed to clear the danger.

Motherwell were threatening again when McGarry released Paul Quinn down the right flank and he delivered a wicked cross into the box, but McGregor was quick to gather with John Sutton loitering with intent in the goalmouth.

Kenny Miller then squandered a great opportunity to open the scoring for Rangers when he collected a lovely pass from Boyd in plenty of space. But the striker hesitated too long over the shot allowing Reynolds to snuff out the danger.

The ball broke to Lafferty but his shot deflected wide for a corner, which was nodded narrowly over the crossbar by Boyd.

Rangers continued to press and Miller rolled the ball into the path of Ferguson who saw his initial shot blocked by Steven Hammell before Smith denied the Ibrox skipper from prodding the rebound over the line.
Miller and Boyd were also denied by the Motherwell goalkeeper before the half-time whistle, with both sides forced to settle for level terms at the interval.

Motherwell could have opened the scoring from a free-kick after the break when Madjid Bougherra – booked three minutes after the restart – fouled Chris Porter but McGregor managed to smother Hammell's effort.
Rangers must then have been wondering how they did not find the back of the net when Steven Davis slipped a decent ball into the box which was completely missed firstly by the on-rushing Boyd and then Miller at the far post.

The game was proving increasingly difficult to call when a full-stretch McGregor was then called into action to pull off a superb save and tip over a powerful drive from distance by Porter.

Rangers made their first change with 15 minutes to go when Lafferty was withdrawn for the introduction of Novo.

McGregor had already come to the rescue once and he pulled a save out of the top drawer to tip a Stephen Hughes shot an inch over the crossbar as it looked to be heading for his top left-hand corner.

There was bad news for Rangers with 10 minutes to go when Sasa Papac – who signed a new deal only the day before – left the pitch on a stretcher following a clash with Sutton and was replaced by Steven Whittaker.

Rangers continued to push for a late winner but both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils, with the visitors well aware of the damage caused to their title hopes.