Rangers held on for the narrowest of wins against Dunfermline to keep their title hopes alive.

Dado Prso grabbed the only goal of the game after seven minutes to hand Rangers the win at East End Park.

The victory allowed Rangers to move to within two points of leaders Celtic in the Bank of Scotland Premier League table ahead of next week's Old Firm clash.

Rangers manager Alex McLeish had put their midweek defeat to Dundee United down to a bad day at the office but he was well aware that a similar result against Dunfermline would not be acceptable to the Ibrox faithful.

Dunfermline had their own agenda and wins for both Dundee United and Livingston 24 hours earlier meant they headed into this game joint bottom with Livi and staring relegation in the face.

According to McLeish the "shooting boots" had been missing for the visit of United but, unfortunately for the Pars, Rangers appeared to be back on track when Prso opened the scoring after just seven minutes.

Goalkeeper Derek Stillie had already been called into action to block a Barry Ferguson effort and he had watched in relief as Sotirios Kyrgiakos stabbed the rebound wide of the upright.

But Stillie was left helpless when a Gregory Vignal corner-kick broke to Fernando Ricksen at the far post.

He hooked the ball into the path of Prso and the big striker rose above everyone else in the box to nod home from eight yards.

The signs were looking good for Rangers and they could have doubled their lead when Nacho Novo pounced on a poor back-pass from Gary Mason. With only the goalkeeper to beat, he managed to send the ball past the wrong side of the post.

All of a sudden memories of Tuesday night and missed opportunities in front of goal were starting to spring to mind.

Novo's effort was followed by another missed opportunity. Ricksen released Thomas Buffel into the box and the Belgian international's only task was to guide the ball safely into the bottom corner of the net, but he slotted across goal and wide of the upright instead.

Jangling nerves in the away section of the ground were only drowned out by the sound of Darren Young's thunderous shot crashing off the post. Noel Hunt blasted the rebound well over but Dunfermline were clearly sensing an upset could be on the cards.

Rangers gradually started to dominate the game again after the break and Novo did well to take the ball past a persistent Scott Thomson but the angle proved too demanding for the tiny striker and he hit the side netting.

Prso then collected the ball on the by-line and rolled it into the path of the on-rushing Ferguson but his finishing was poor as he drove yards over the crossbar.

Fans' favourite Prso had been singled out by the Rangers supporters and he tried to respond to those chants by nodding home at the far post from a yard out.

Stillie managed to paw one-handed away from the danger area and the ball fell for Novo to follow up.

Novo was then replaced by Shota Arveladze as McLeish clearly searched for fresh ideas up front.

Rangers applied the pressure in the hope of killing the game off as the final 15 minutes approached.

Arveladze played an inviting-looking cross into the box in the hope of picking out the unmarked Prso but Thomson managed to intercept and hoof over the crossbar for a corner.

The respite did not last long and the same pair were causing problems for their hosts again.

This time Arveladze's ball made contact with Prso and he bulleted a dangerous-looking header at goal but Stillie was up to the task and managed to smother at the far post.

Teams

Dunfermline Stillie, Skerla, Scott Wilson, Scott Thomson, Campbell, Donnelly (Mehmet 63), Mason, Darren Young, Derek Young, Hunt, Hristov (Christiansen 76).

Subs Not Used: McKeown, Craig Wilson, Scullion, Ross, Langfield.

Booked: Stillie, Skerla, Campbell, Derek Young.

Rangers Waterreus, Ross, Malcolm, Kyrgiakos, Ball, Ricksen, Buffel (Namouchi 79), Ferguson, Vignal, Prso, Novo (Arveladze 60).

Subs Not Used: Khizanishvili, Burke, Thompson, McCormack, McGregor.

Booked: Prso, Buffel.

Goals: Prso 7.

Att: 8,266

Ref: K Clark (Scotland).