Rangers took a step closer to the Champions League at virtual walking pace last night as Zalgiris Kaunas were never able to knock them off their stride.

An unremarkable scoreless draw never threatened to come alive as the home side struggled to exert any pressure in this second qualifying-round second-leg tie.

The real work for Rangers was done a week ago at Ibrox in a 4-1 victory which meant this game resembled little more than a training exercise for long periods.

What might worry Dick Advocaat is that Rangers, despite dominating proceedings in terms of possession, were unable to put away any of the chances created.

Danish champions Herfolge now await Rangers for a place in the first group phase of a competition in which success is vital to Rangers' season. Rangers will need to improve rapidly in time for the Herfolge tie.

Rangers did have the ball in the net with five minutes remaining when a Bert Konterman header was disallowed for a foul and could easily have lost the game but for Giovanni van Bronckhorst heading a late effort off the line.

The visitors played a relaxed passing game at a tempo which suited them and, aside from a banner reading "we support Celtic", there was no hostility for Rangers to counter on or off the field in a sparsely populated ground.