Scottish Championship: Rangers 2-0 Raith Rovers

Rangers continued their march towards the Scottish Championship title and the top flight with victory over promotion hopefuls Raith Rovers.

With Hibernian losing away to Queen of the South, Rangers stretch their lead to 14 points.

Harry Forrester put the Glasgow side ahead before the break with a curling drive from outside the penalty box.

Billy King set up captain Lee Wallace to pass the ball into the net for the second goal after the break.

But it was Forrester - also the scorer of a last-gasp weekend winner against St Mirren - who inspired the Ibrox outfit with his brightest display in a blue jersey since sealing his January move from Doncaster Rovers.

Given the task of setting the tempo for Mark Warburton's team, the Englishman pulled the strings in midfield before giving the hosts a first-half lead.

With Saturday's Scottish Cup quarter-final with top-flight Dundee on the horizon, manager Mark Warburton rested veteran striker Kenny Miller and midfielders Nicky Law and Barrie McKay.

That gave Forrester his chance to start alongside Billy King and Nicky Clark, while Rovers badly missed teenage Rangers striker Ryan Hardie under the terms of his loan agreement.

Jason Holt came close inside the opening 90 seconds, while Forrester fizzed wide from 20 yards out as Rangers started brightly before they made the breakthrough after 27 minutes.

Forrester's clever footwork sucked in Rovers midfielder Ryan McCord and he span clear before whipping an unstoppable effort over the head of goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert.

King's jinking run from the left took him past three Rovers players and the on-loan Hearts attacker looked up just in time to tee up Wallace arriving on the edge of the area to drill home the second after the break.

Forrester's contribution to proceedings had been outstanding with his scheming from behind striker Clark central to Rangers' best moments.

He was replaced with Dean Shiels on the hour mark, though, with Warburton keen to wrap the playmaker in cotton wool ahead of the weekend Scottish Cup tie.

Holt almost netted a spectacular scissors kick but was denied by Cuthbert, who also pushed away a powerful King strike.