Rangers suffered the earliest of setbacks to their William Hill Premiership title hopes by dropping two points in a 0-0 draw against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Gers boss Philippe Clement on Friday extended his contract at Ibrox until 2028 after making nine new signings but midfielder Connor Barron was the only one making his first start for the club in the opening game of the league season.
It was a battle for most of the afternoon with both sides hitting the woodwork but neither could get the breakthrough.
It was not the start Rangers wanted in their battle to wrest the title back from Celtic and they will need to improve greatly for their Champions League first leg qualifier against Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday, a fixture which offers no respite.
For the league season curtain raiser, new signings Yan Dhanda, James Penrice and Gerald Taylor started for the home side while Malachi Boateng, recruited on Saturday morning from Crystal Palace, was on the bench and was introduced later in the game.
There was a familiar look about the visitors and Rangers’ unconvincing pre-season meant the small band of travelling fans arrived in the Gorgie sunshine with some trepidation.
We give each player a mark out of ten for their performance in Gorgie.
21. Lawrence Shankland - 6
Deployed in a deeper role, the Jambos' talisman still got into some dangerous areas and saw a couple of efforts fielded well by Jack Butland. Wasn't able to find his trademark lucidity from last term. | SNS Group
22. Cyriel Dessers - 6
What an infuriating, yet trademark performance from the Nigerian. His general play and link-up was exemplary but when asked to finish, he could not. Wasted three presentable chances, the best being a header from close range that hit the underside of the bar. | SNS Group
23. Hearts replacements
New signings Blair Spittal, Daniel Oyegoke and Malachi Boateng (above) all featured off the bench and helped Hearts battle for a point. Alan Forrest and Yutaro Oda added fresh legs to the attack. | SNS Group
24. EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 03: Rangers' Rabbi Matondo and Hearts' Cammy Devlin in action during a William Hill Premiership match between Heart of Midlothian and Rangers at Tynecastle Park, on August 03, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)
Rabbi Matondo (above) replaced Oscar Cortes just after the break and had some nice moments down the left. Vaclav Cerny was quiet on his debut, while Leon Balogun and Kieran Dowell were also introduced. | SNS Group