Rangers manager Derek McInnes described Dundee's leveller in the 2-2 draw at Dens Park as like 'a balloon popping', as the Gers missed the chance to go top of the William Hill Premiership and dropped to one point behind Celtic

Derek McInnes described Dundee's second goal in their 2-2 stalemate with Rangers as resembling "a balloon popping" after the Ibrox side squandered the opportunity to climb to the summit of the William Hill Premiership at Dens Park.

The hosts deservedly went ahead in the 38th minute courtesy of forward Bradley Fink, but Rangers winger Badredine Bouanani responded with a spectacular leveller three minutes later, netting his maiden goal for the club.

The Glasgow outfit emerged with renewed vigour after the interval and edged in front on the hour mark through a magnificent long-distance effort from midfielder Nico Raskin, appearing poised to claim maximum points.

Yet in the 68th minute, Dundee's Callum Jones pounced on an error by Rangers captain Dan Neil to restore parity, meaning the away side finished the evening trailing pacesetters Celtic by a single point, with the Hoops able to extend their advantage when they welcome Hearts on Sunday.

Rangers manager McInnes reflected: "The performance for 20-25 minutes culminated in Nico's goal. It should be a winning goal because it was such a high-quality goal.

"The disappointment is that we had the game there, we were dominant. We had the game by the scruff of the neck.

"Dundee were struggling to get out of their own half. We were in such a good place. It was almost like a balloon popping when we made the mistake, which can happen.

"We never really got back to that same level. Although we did have enough balls in their box to score and we should be scoring.

"With some of the stats and some of the touches we had, we should be scoring more than two goals tonight. So a combination of that and us also coming away from home, we shouldn't need to score three goals to win a game of football.

"I think Dundee will be a good team this season. I think they'll cause teams problems. But the disappointment is clear, because we came here to win and we haven't done that."

Rangers arrived at the fixture riding high on a seven-match winning streak, which made the result even more satisfying for Dundee manager Steven Pressley.

The former Ibrox defender commented: "To use an old cliche, it was a game of two halves.

"I thought our first-half performance was a really outstanding and very dominant performance. We restricted Rangers to very few chances and we created a number of chances and chances that we felt we could have capitalised on more.

"We were really strong in the duels and the second balls, the aspects of the game that I spoke about prior to the game.

"But the pleasing thing as well is when we got on to those second balls, we were courageous in our play and we really tried to play. So I couldn't have been prouder of the group.

"But the one thing we did expect was a reaction from Rangers. We had to ride our luck at times. Against the Old Firm, you have to dig in and suffer a bit.

"We did all of those things and then we still came back for more. So really, really proud of the group."