The Glasgow giants threw away a 2-1 lead after some sloppy play gifted Dundee an equaliser

Derek McInnes was impressed to see his Rangers stars turn down the offer of a deserved day off this week.

But he’ll have much preferred they showed up for their late shift at Dens.

The 8pm kick off on Tayside was a chance for the Light Blues to put the pressure on their title rivals before Celtic and Hearts square off at Parkhead.

But it was Stephen Pressley’s on-form Dundee who earned their overtime bonus and a fully deserved point with their superb show.

Rangers found themselves in trouble as they slacked off during a ragged first half.

It’s fair to see McInnes didn’t see that coming after hailing the men who turned down the chance of a extra day off to clock in for extra training earlier this week.

But it was evident from the off Gers were going to make hard work of this one.

Swiss star Bradley Fink fired the Dark Blues ahead as the former Borussia Dortmund trainee bagged his third goal in four games.

That looked to have provided the visitors with a wake up call as they roared ahead thanks to two sublime strikes from Badredine Bouanani and Nico Raskin.

But those two moments of beauty were undone by another ugly mistake as captain Dan Neil’s blunder allowed Callum Jones to level.

McInnes admitted this week he was green with envy after watching Celtic and Hearts in European action.

Rested up Rangers had the chance to make them jealous of their their free midweek as they went in search of the eighth straight win which would have put them top ahead of today’s Celtic Park shoot-out.

Instead they stay second - and risk falling four behind the Hoops should Martin O'Neill's team emerge victorious today.

Fourth placed Dundee, meanwhile, had their own resurgence to think off as they tried to build on back-to-back wins over Motherwell and Falkirk.

Pressley was glad to see his injury woes lessen slightly as he welcomed Drey Wright back from a knee injury, while Ryan Finnigan also returned after a month out.

McInnes, meanwhile, admitted he had waited too long to freshen up his team during last week’s Jekyll and Hyde win over Kilmarnock as the exertions of the three-week international break showed.

This time, he opted to introduce new energy to his lineup, swapping Kevin Kelsy for Algerian winger Badredine Bouanani.

But the change didn’t do much to tidy up Rangers’ work in what was a sloppy first 20 minutes.

Their only real moment of hope in that opening period came when a Minsu Kim strike ricocheted up off Owen Bevan onto the arm of defensive partner Ryan Astley but ref Duncan Nicolson was having none of Gers’ penalty appeals.

The hosts, though, were bang at it from the off.

It looked as if they were in as Joseph Bevan burst clear of Djeidi Gassama to fire wide of Ivor Pandur’s goal but the offside flag had already sprung.

The Croatian keeper was called into action for proper moments later as he tipped Ryan Astley’s header over his crossbar.

And from Ethan Hamilton’s resulting corner, Pandur was motionless as Ash Hay’s thumping header shuddered the goal frame.

Bouanani - who had already sent a couple of deft balls in behind the Dundee defence without finding a taker - thought he’d finally succeeded as he sent Dujon Sterling to the byline but skipper Dan Neil dragged wide after a loose first touch.

A goal for Rangers at that stage would have been harsh on Pressely’s men - and they more than merited their opener on 38 minutes as the visitors failed to deal with Astley’s long ball.

McInnes was full of praise for Sterling’s performances this season but it was the full-back's undercooked pass to Manny Fernandez that put his team in trouble, with Fink pouncing as he calmly rounded Pandur to stroke home.

McInnes could have had no complaints had his team found themselves behind at the break - but they got a major let off three minutes before the whistle blew as Bouanani dragged them the Light Blues level.

Minsu thought he about to be crowned the hero but was denied by Owen Bevan’s brave block at point-blank range.

The danger wasn’t over, though, with £13million Stuttgart signing Bouanani whipping home a sensational equaliser at the second attempt.

McInnes no doubt made his point forcefully at half-time and his team came out for the second half looking like a team who had some making up to do with their manager.

And they showed more attacking intent in the first five minutes of the second period than they had for most of the 45 that came before.

Minsu swept wide with a sweet strike before playing in Bouanani, who was denied by Owen Goodman’s vital stop.

Gassama was next to come close as he forced the Dens No1 to tip wide.

But Pressley could have had two keepers in goal and they’d still have got nowhere near Raskin’s outrageous 25 yarder.

Minsu kept a Rangers attack alive as he stopped the ball running out of play before finding Neil.

Dundee must have felt they were safe as the Englishman laid it square to his midfield partner but they were made to think again as the Belgian ace ripped an unstoppable drive off the underside of the bar and into Goodman’s net.

The jubilant travelling supporters in the Bob Shankley Stand fully expected their team to go on and finish off the job.

Instead, they found themselves back all square with 20 minutes remaining after Neil’s howler handed Dundee a gift.

All the captain had to do was roll the ball back to his keeper. Instead, he allowed himself to be robbed buy Jones and watched in horror as Welshman stroked past Pandur.

Neil thought he’d made immediate amends as he poked a loose ball towards goal - but Owen Bevan was perfectly placed on the line to hook clear.

McInnes rolled the dice as he sent on Kevin Kelsy and Findlay Curtis for the final 15 minutes.

The young Scotland kid thought he’d won it in stoppage time as he lobbed the ball over Goodman - only for Astley to come up with another massive clearance under his crossbar.