MARK WARBURTON won’t lose much sleep over his Rangers team seemingly taking their collective feet off any pedals after the Championship title quickly followed their Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic.

But the trick for him over the next 19 days is to get the players back to their previous highest level. They have taken just two points from the last four league matches and the performances have been far from great. At least Warburton has a bit of downtime to work on this.

If Rangers play as they did in the first-half of this draw with St Mirren, it must be said they improved greatly after the interval, they are going to give themselves an even bigger job of winning the final against Hibernian.

However that is for another day because here is the end of ‘The Journey’ as some fans has called the last four years, giving their stay out of the Premiership something of a Tolkien feel. Well, there have been enough baddies in the Ibrox boardroom over the piece who had a few bad hobbits.

As for St Mirren, they are far better organised under Alex Rae and with backing and clever recruitment should challenge for the play-offs next season.

It was an afternoon of farewells among the home throng. Jim Goodwin is off after five seasons, most likely to Dunfermline, and Steven Thomson, the local lad who made a lot better than some have given him credit for, has now retired.

The Rangers manager would have been deemed the day a modest success.

Top goalscorer Martyn Waghorn started for the first time since February, which was a major plus ahead of the final. He looked rusty but still had chances to score. No Rangers player appeared to take a knock and now preparations can begin for the Hampden meeting with Hibs.

It took 18 minutes for either team to make a significant contribution and it should have come as little surprise that is was Lee Wallace, the Rangers captain, who got things going. The left-back, who has enjoyed a remarkable season, got forward, as he does, and his shot from 18 yards was well kept out by St Mirren goalkeeper Jamie Langfield.

That sparked something in the away side and in Waghorn in particular. Within a minute he was denied a goal by the front post which he rattled with a curled left-foot effort. Moments later, and with the exact same shot, the ball fizzed across Langfield’s goal.

Rangers again came close to an opener on 28 minutes when, following good play by Gedion Zelalem, Barrie McKay’s shot from the edge of the box was taken wide by a deflection.

On the half hour, St Mirren broke with pace and purpose from their own half, the attack was halted illegally by Danny Wilson whose foul on David Clarkson brought the Rangers defender a booking.

A free-kick was awarded, 25 yards out and centre from goal, Stephen Mallan's delivery from the set-piece was good and it forced Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham to get down at his left hand post to make the save.

Foderingham then almost gifted St Mirren a goal. Rob Kiernan’s pass back was far from the best but the keeper forget he was not an outfield player for a second and tried to kill the ball on his knees. He failed, Clarkson tried to take advantage, but the Rangers man recovered enough to kick the ball off the striker which then trundled wide.

St Mirren had grown into the game and took the lead on 40 minutes.

They strung together some good passes, bolth quick and precise, which saw Mallan feed the ball to Clarkson at the edge of the box; he in turn perfectly laid on a chance for Callum Gallagher who spotted a space between Foderingham and his front post which he found with a fine finish.

Rangers were equal eight minutes after the break. There should have been no way Kenny Miller reached James Tavernier’s cross at the back post but the old man is a determined sod and made sure it was his head that met the ball, and not Jason Naismith’s, and the ball ended up in the back of the net.

Miller was at it again on 58 minutes, this time his well struck shot from outside the box was dealt with by Langfield.

McKay twisted his way though St Mirren’s backline on 66 minutes and was denied by the outstretched arm of Langfield, and then the St Mirren keeper brilliantly got his fingertips to a Miller shot on 69 minutes which he somehow tipped over the bar.

Goodwin’s cameo included some strong tackles and a booking, which were lapped up, but his day look to be ruined on 88 minutes when Jason Holt danced his way through a couple of tackles, played a one-two with Nicky Clark, and confidently put his shot past Langfield.

But with seconds to go, and in injury time, a quick free-kick by Gary Irvine found young St Mirren substitute Lewis Morgan who strode forward into the box before lashing home his shot.