Whittaker has now scored five goals in four games against Hamilton this season

By Andy Campbell

Steven Whittaker grabbed an extra-time double to book Rangers a place in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup at the expense of stubborn Hamilton.

Kenny Miller twice hit the bar during a frustrating first half for the hosts.

The Ibrox side also came up against some excellent goalkeeping from Tomas Cerny, who saved a barrage of efforts from Miller, Sasa Papac and John Fleck.

But Whittaker broke the deadlock with a tap-in and added an impressive second to make sure of the win.

After sharing six goals in the original clash at New Douglas Park nine days previously, the prize for progression was an away tie against St Mirren in round five.

Miller returned to the Rangers starting line-up following suspension and was first to threaten, latching on to Danny Wilson's long ball and thundering in a shot that Cerny powerfully palmed away.

The pace of Miller continued to cause Accies problems and the striker was denied a penalty claim after stumbling under the challenge of Simon Mensing.

Cerny was called into action again to block a Papac drive and the goalkeeper then nudged a Miller header wide.

Nacho Novo's cross was flicked on by Miller's head to Davis, who could not leap high enough to convert.

Miller struck the crossbar after stretching out a foot to meet Papac's teasing cross and John Fleck was foiled by Cerny's finger-tip save before Marco Paixao belted a volley narrowly over the Rangers goal.

Goalkeeper Cerny foiled Miller on numerous occasions

Referee Charlie Richmond waved away another spot-kick appeal when Whittaker went down in the box after being closed down by David Elebert and the Rangers player was booked for diving.

The woodwork came to Hamilton's rescue again when Miller beat the offside trap and lifted a shot over Cerny only to see it come back off the bar.

The onslaught towards the Hamilton goal gathered a pace at the start of the second half with Cerny holding two efforts by Fleck and Wilson's header being cleared off the line by Elebert.

Neat passing involving Papac and Davis created another chance for Miller but Cerny got his angles right to divert the shot wide.

Kirk Broadfoot came on for Kevin Thomson and set up Miller with a cut-back but Cerny sprung to his right to get a strong hand behind the attempt.

Cerny held a swerving drive by Whittaker shortly before the referee's whistle confirmed extra time.

And it was Accies who almost took the lead after the restart as substitute Kyle Wilkie squeezed a shot wide after being found by Mickael Antoine-Curier.

Rangers finally made the breakthrough in the 98th minute when Miller's shot deflected off a defender and Cerny's hand before Whittaker made sure the ball crossed the line.

And, within a minute, Whittaker had doubled the lead, weaving his way in from the left and bending a shot into the top right-hand corner.

The former Hibernian full-back went in search of a hat-trick with two further shots before the turnaround, the first deflected wide and the other held by Cerny.

As the game entered its closing stages, Allan McGregor saved well from Accies substitute Stuart Elliot and Flavio Paixao.

The match ended on a slightly sour note for the victors with Miller forced off with a hamstring strain.

Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist:
"It was a really tough game - one which we expected. On chances created, I think we deserve to go through.

"We had a lot of good chances to score and hit the woodwork a couple of times. As luck would have it, the goal that gets us into the lead takes a little bit of a deflection.

"We had to work very, very hard for the win. The players deserve an enormous amount of credit, as do the Hamilton lads over the last two or three games.

"Steven Whittaker is a modern day footballer. He's comfortable on the ball in a lot of positions. He has a real goalscoring threat as we saw tonight.

"Kenny Miller has his hamstring heavily iced and I'm hoping it's not too bad. He hopes it's cramp. It's something we could've done without."

Hamilton manager Billy Reid:
"Rangers proved that they are a different kettle of fish at home. They pressed us higher up the park, there wasn't as much time on the ball.

"At times we got a foothold in the game. We passed the ball and we were always a threat going forward. We made it nervous for Rangers.

"Tomas Cerny was phenomenal in goal. He held us together at times.

"As a team, I can't ask anymore from my players. Our shape was good, we dug in hard.

"We were undone by tiredness. Going into extra time, we were looking really, really tired."

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