Kris Boyd claimed his 18th goal of the season as Rangers restored their four-point lead at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with what could prove to be a crucial win over Aberdeen.

The Dons were the last team to take points off Rangers in the SPL back in January and they looked set to throw a spanner in the works once again when Steve Lovell claimed the opener.

Rangers knew the pressure was on following Celtic's win at Hibernian earlier in the day and Christian Dailly marked his Ibrox debut with the equaliser before goals from Charlie Adam and Boyd sealed the win.

Jean-Claude Darcheville was named on the team sheet but a hamstring injury, which had led to a late fitness test, clearly flared up again before kick-off and the lone striker role went to Boyd instead.

Chris Burke also replaced Steven Naismith following the 4-0 win over Hearts in midweek but Steven Smith and Andy Webster failed to make the 18-man squad after recovering from long-term injuries.

Aberdeen swapped Darren Mackie for Lee Miller after Wednesday night's draw with Motherwell and arrived at Ibrox knowing the odds were stacked against them. The last time the Dons recorded a win here was back in September 1991 and they found themselves under pressure early on.

The first couple of chances fell to Barry Ferguson. He collected an Adam ball six yards from goal but fired wide under pressure from Scott Severin. The Ibrox skipper then tried his luck from the edge of the area but his left-foot shot lacked power and was easily smothered by goalkeeper Derek Soutar.

Boyd then went to ground in the box under pressure from Zander Diamond. Referee Kenny Clark said no to a penalty but did book Diamond minutes later for a foul on the same player.

Aberdeen should have taken the lead when Miller fed Lovell and he turned Carlos Cuellar before unleashing the shot at goal but Allan McGregor did well to turn the effort past the post. The Rangers goalkeeper then blocked another Lovell attempt, as well as denying Diamond.

At the other end, only the woodwork prevented Rangers from taking the lead. Adam spotted Soutar off his line and had a go from 30 yards but his delicate chip rebounded off the crossbar.

The opener went to Aberdeen instead after 27 minutes. McGregor had done well to palm a blistering shot from Barry Nicholson wide but was left plucking the ball out of the net from the corner.

Jeffrey de Visscher's flag-kick was knocked across goal by Miller to Lovell at the back post, who powered home an unstoppable header. De Visscher was then denied a goal of his own thanks to a timely block from David Weir just as he was about to pull the trigger.

Aberdeen failed to hold onto their lead and Rangers restored parity seven minutes before the interval. Adam's corner was met by Dailly and he claimed his first goal for Rangers with a near-post flick from a few yards out.

Rangers switched to a more attacking 4-4-2 formation after the restart, with Nacho Novo replacing the ineffective Burke for the second half.

But it was Adam who found the back of the net with 50 minutes on the clock. Kirk Broadfoot was the provider with a great cross and Adam connected to nod past Soutar into the bottom corner.

Aberdeen could have been back on level terms had Andrew Considine done better with his header but he glanced over after McGregor failed to collect a long ball into the box.

Novo then saw his long, low shot crash off Soutar's right-hand post as Rangers tried to put the game beyond their visitors.

The Dons then resorted to desperate defending when Diamond hooked a Boyd effort off the line to safety, before Broadfoot went to ground in a poor attempt to win a penalty.

The referee did point to the spot with eight minutes to go, though, when Novo was tripped in the box by Alan Maybury.

Boyd stepped up and his penalty was saved by Soutar before the striker reacted quickly to fire home the rebound and put the game beyond Aberdeen.