KYLE LAFFERTY knows Rangers got out of jail at the weekend as Celtic failed to take full advantage on yet another slip-up on the road from Walter Smith's side.

And the Northern Ireland internationalist admits the Light Blues can't afford to keep throwing away points on their travels if they want to win the championship this season.

Smith's men left Tannadice on Saturday fearing they had once again lost ground after being held to a 2-2 draw with Dundee United - only to be handed a boost with news that Gordon Strachan's side also drew with Hearts.

It means Lafferty and Co are still only four points behind the SPL leaders, but the big striker realises his team have got to stop shedding points away from Ibrox. Rangers have lost to both St Mirren and Hearts and now drawn with Aberdeen, Motherwell and Dundee United on their travels and the £3.5m star says that isn't good enough.

He rapped: "We've got to start improving away from home. We've lost a couple of games and drawn a few matches and we know we must do better. We can't afford to keep dropping points.

"At Ibrox, we are fine. We won't lose at home, but you've got to try and win more games away from home and show more consistency. It was disappointing to only take a point from our game at the weekend.

"We started really well and took an early lead and at that stage you are looking to try and get a second goal and make life more comfortable. But we didn't manage to do that and in the second half they scored two goals to take the lead.

"However, we got back on level terms and fortunately other results went our way as well."

It was Lafferty who climbed off the bench to rescue a point for Rangers after Nacho Novo set him up.

After a difficult few weeks for the powerful striker - who has come in for flak from fans for some below-par performances on the left of midfield - it was the perfect way to lift his spirits.

And he said: "It was a nice feeling to come off the bench and score. To be fair to Nacho, it was excellent play from him to create the opportunity and I just picked my spot and kept the ball low. But it's up to the manager if I start this weekend."

Lafferty knows Rangers face an important period in their season and wants to play a part in trying to help the Ibrox side win the championship.

He said: "The next month of two will be important.

"We want to keep winning as many games as possible in the comings weeks and hopefully put ourselves in as strong a position as possible."