But they were made to sweat for the three points after goals from Gary McDonald and Kris Boyd threw their hosts a lifeline.

The game marked four years in the Ibrox hotseat for Alex McLeish and it has been a rollercoaster four years for the Rangers boss.

He looked unlikely to be around long enough to celebrate that milestone, until winning the surprise backing of chairman David Murray earlier in the week, 48 hours after leading Rangers into the last 16 of the Champions League.

But there was no escaping the cold, hard facts facing the Scottish champions ahead of the trip to Kilmarnock: 20 points adrift of Bank of Scotland Premier League leaders Celtic, fifth in the table, 10 games without a win and trailing today’s opposition.

However, for periods of the game, this was more like the Rangers of old.

It was revealed today Lovenkrands had rejected a cut-price, three-year contract extension three months ago but, on the basis of this performance, Rangers might want to rethink the cash on offer.

The Ibrox club signalled their intent early on when skipper Barry Ferguson whipped a dangerous ball into the box and only the quick reaction of goalkeeper Alan Combe allowed him to smother before Lovenkrands could connect.

But there was no stopping the Dane when he fired Rangers ahead after 16 minutes. A long throughball from Bob Malcolm released Lovenkrands into the box and he kept his nerve to flick over Combe.

The home fans screamed for offside and, even though Simon Ford appeared to play Lovenkrands on, it was a theory Killie boss Jim Jefferies was willing to subscribe to and his own furious reaction earned him a seat in the stand.

The Kilmarnock supporters were venting their fury again when Malcolm appeared to handle in the box but referee John Underhill ignored the pleas.

Rangers were threatening again when Lovenkrands squared into the path of Thomas Buffel, and only a superb block from Combe prevented his point-blank shot from hitting the back of the net.

But the Scottish champions extended their lead after 42 minutes.

Buffel intercepted a Ford header before slotting into the path of Lovenkrands. He raced into the box from the left flank before rattling the ball home into the roof of the net.

Lovenkrands could have had a hat-trick before the break, only for his shot to be parried by Combe, before Chris Burke’s rebound effort was hooked off the line by Ford.

Rangers made a change at the interval, Alan Hutton replacing Fernando Ricksen.

The second half was barely under way before Rangers were causing problems for the Kilmarnock defence.

Burke burst down the right flank, before squaring to Steven Smith in front of goal, but the youngster failed to connect properly and prodded well wide at full- stretch.

Instead, with 61 minutes gone, Kilmarnock pulled a goal back.

Rangers goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus spilled the ball under pressure from Boyd and Marvin Andrews, in his attempts to clear, was robbed of possession by Steven Naismith.

The striker looked as though he would have a shot at goal himself, but he selflessly squared to McDonald and all that was required was to slot home from close range.

Just when Kilmarnock thought there was time to mount a comeback, Lovenkrands struck again to claim his hat-trick.

It was Buffel who did all the hard work, weaving past the Killie defenders, before Lovenkrands snatched the ball from his feet to finish in style after 72 minutes.

It was his final contribution to the game and he left the field to a standing ovation seconds later, outdone only by the reception Nacho Novo, back in action after a broken foot, received from the Rangers fans.

But there was to be a tense finish to the game after all when the ball broke to Boyd from a Stevie Murray free-kick and he bundled over with eight minutes to go.