Rangers have missed the chance to return to the Scottish Premiership after losing 6-1 on aggregate to Motherwell in their two-legged playoff.

Motherwell, who have retained their spot in the Scottish Premiership, entered the second leg as the strong favourites to triumph following a 3-1 win in the first leg on Thursday.

The Steelmen were 3-0 winners in the second leg on their own patch, with Marvin Johnson, Lionel Ainsworth and John Sutton all on the scoresheet at Fir Park.

It was Rangers that started on the front foot and the visitors came close to opening the scoring in the third minute when Kris Boyd met a deep cross from the right, but his header was straight into the arms of George Long.

Boyd had another sight of goal in the seventh minute following some lacklustre defending, but the forward could only fire wide of the post.

Rangers had another half-chance from another cross, which was a clear tactic in the early stages, but Marius Zaliukas's header was pushed over the crossbar by Long.

Motherwell's best first-half opportunity came in the 35th minute when Lee Erwin turned inside the box, but his effort just fizzed past the post.

Johnson then fired just wide of the post for the home team, before Zaliukas blazed high and wide from close range down the other end as the score remained 0-0 at the interval.

Motherwell took the lead on the day in the 52nd minute when Johnson's effort from outside the box deflected off Zaliukas and over Cammy Bell, who could not punch clear from underneath his own crossbar.

Rangers boss Stuart McCall made two changes before the hour in an attempt to swing the match, but opportunities were few and far between as Motherwell protected their three-goal advantage.

Lee McCulloch had a half-chance for Rangers in the 63rd minute after meeting a corner, but his overhead kick was high of the crossbar, before Haris Vuckic brought a smart save from Long in the Motherwell goal.

Motherwell had their second in the 70th minute when Johnson drove into the Rangers box before setting up Ainsworth, whose effort deflected past Bell once again.

The home side had the chance to make it 3-0 in the 79th minute, with Erwin and Sutton both having opportunities. However, the former was denied by a block, before Bell managed to keep out a low strike from Sutton.

It got worse for Rangers in stoppage time when Sutton scored from the penalty spot to make it 6-1 on aggregate.

Rangers dropped out of the Scottish Premiership at the end of the 2011-12 campaign, after entering administration.

They were accepted back into the Third Division for the 2012-13 season, but their wait for a return to the top flight will last at least one more year.