DON ROBERTSON was the man in the middle as Rangers were held to a 2-2 draw by Motherwell.

An own goal from Bevis Mugabe and a well-worked effort from Fashion Sakala barely a minute later put Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men in the driving seat at Ibrox before Jason Roberts reduced ‘Well’s deficit and Kaiyne Woolery grabbed a second-half equaliser.

Robertson found himself with a few big calls to make but got off to an inauspicious start in Govan, awarding Motherwell a free-kick when the ball fell out of the air and struck the official on the head. Scott Arfield looked certain to reach it but the decision went the way of the visitors.

The first decision of real note arrived around the half-hour mark when a slack touch from Connor Goldson invited a challenge from Joseph Efford. Goldson lunged after it and hooked the ball away before Efford clattered into the Rangers defender, leaving a sore one on him. Robertson flashed a yellow card as Goldson appealed for a more severe punishment but on balance, a booking was probably fair.

There was a penalty shout for the Premiership champions shortly before half-time when the ball struck the shoulder of Mugabe in the Motherwell box. Robertson waved away the Rangers players’ appeals and he was probably right to do so – television replays showed Mugabe attempting to move his arm out of the path of the ball and the defender couldn’t have done much more to avoid it.

There were half-hearted appeals for a spot-kick on the stroke of half-time when Alfredo Morelos was almost slipped through on goal only to be blocked by Liam Donnelly, but Robertson correctly paid them no heed.

Morelos would have two goals chopped off for offside in the second half – both were the correct calls, although obviously they were made by the linesman – as the visitors’ tackling got a little heavier. The home crowd howled whenever Robertson kept his cards in his pockets following a full-blooded challenge from a Motherwell player but he was generally correct to do so.

Having said that, Woolery was fortunate to avoid a booking when he slid in rashly on Ryan Kent and Robertson correctly awarded Stephen O’Donnell a caution when the Motherwell full-back clattered into Morelos as Rangers looked to counter-attack on 71 minutes. Donnelly picked up a yellow card in similar circumstances around 10 minutes later and could also have few complaints.

James Tavernier found himself in the book for pulling the shirt of Woolery and Robertson was right to reward the Ibrox skipper’s efforts with a yellow card.

Then, with three minutes left to play, two hand balls in a matter of seconds that went unpunished. With Rangers camped out on the edge of the Motherwell box, Kent drilled a shot at goal as Woolery closed him down. The ball first struck the underside of the forward's raised arm on the dee - which should have been a free-kick - and then as it trundled towards goal, it appeared to roll up Mugabe's arm. Robertson saw nothing wrong wth either incident.

Robertson got most of his calls right but Rangers supporters will feel aggrieved that three handball decisions went against their side. The first was borderline, the second a stonewaller and the third looked fairly blatant too.