Rangers must wait to secure their place in next season's Champions League but a point in a six-goal thriller at Easter Road took them a step closer.

Victory would have made sure of second place in the Bank of Scotland Premier League, and end Aberdeen's faint hopes, but they trailed three times to Hibernian.

It was a match which once again saw Hibernian's goalkeeping deficiencies laid bare.

Shot-stopper Andrew McNeil appeared to be at fault for Charlie Adam's two free-kick strikes either side of the break.

Hibernian got off to a great start in the 20th minute when Steven Fletcher opened the scoring, but Adam cancelled that out four minutes later.

Kevin McCann restored the home side's lead in first-half injury-time but Rangers equalised again through Alan Hutton in the 54th minute.

Steven Whittaker then got in on the act with a fine strike eight minutes later, but Adam left McNeil red-faced after catching him out at his near post 12 minutes from time.

Even though the Hibernian side sent out by manager John Collins was vastly inexperienced in comparison to their Rangers counterparts, the Leith team looked lively in the opening period with Fletcher and Dean Shiels seeing a lot of the ball.

After both Ross Chisholm and Steven Whittaker went close, the pressure paid off in the 20th minute when Fletcher gave the hosts the lead.

Fletcher started off the move by dispossessing Brahim Hemdani and finished it too by slotting the ball under Allan McGregor after latching onto Abdessalam Benjelloun's piercing pass.

The home side's joy was short-lived, however, as Adam scored from a free-kick from the side of the box four minutes later, with goalkeeper McNeil appearing to be at fault.

However, Hibernian restored their lead before the break when Kevin McCann drilled an unstoppable shot high into the corner of the net from 25 yards following a well-worked corner.

Hibernian began the second half looking to build on their slim advantage and had Rangers on the back foot after forcing successive corners.

However, a slip by Ugo Ehiogu let in Benjelloun to go one-on-one with McGregor in the 48th minute.

The Moroccan raced clear of Ehiogu but lacked composure when confronted by the goalkeeper and hit his shot wide.

Just went it seemed Hibernian were edging closer to finding a third goal, Rangers put together a classic counter-attacking move to equalise through Hutton in the 54th minute.

Nacho Novo played in the overlapping Hutton and he lifted the ball over McNeil.

Rangers had a good claim for a penalty turned down minutes later by referee Charlie Richmond after Beuzelin went clattering into Hutton.

In an incredible game, Whittaker gave Hibs the lead for the third time in the 62nd minute with another clinical strike.

The visitors failed to clear their lines from a free-kick and the right-back rifled a shot past McGregor from the edge of the box.

In a bid to find another equaliser, Rangers manager Walter Smith introduced the attack-minded Chris Burke for Hemdani.

Burke won the free-kick for Rangers' next goal when Adam took advantage of some sloppy goalkeeping from McNeil to find the net with a free-kick on the corner of the box.

McNeil failed to cover his near post and, in an almost identical set-piece to which he scored on his last visit to Easter Road against Simon Brown, Adam curved the ball over the wall into the net.

Beuzelin, who had a good game at centre-back, was shown a straight red-card in injury-time for felling Kris Boyd as he raced through on goal.

Teams:

Hibernian McNeil, McCann (Lynch 76), Hogg, Martis, Stevenson,Whittaker, Beuzelin, Chisholm, Shiels (Sproule 63), Fletcher,Benjelloun.

Subs Not Used: Simon Brown, Ayre, Gray, Zemmama, Campbell.

Sent Off: Beuzelin (90).

Booked: Fletcher, Benjelloun.

Goals: Fletcher 20, McCann 45, Whittaker 62.

Rangers McGregor, Hutton, Ehiogu, Weir, Papac, Novo,Hemdani (Burke 71), Thomson, Adam, Ferguson, Boyd.

Subs Not Used: Klos, Murray, Rae, Sionko, Lennon, Shinnie.

Booked: Hutton, Burke.

Goals: Adam 24, Hutton 54, Adam 78.

Att: 16,747

Ref: C Richmond (Scotland).