Goalkeeper Neil Alexander was the hero as Rangers booked their place in the Scottish Cup final following a tense penalty shoot-out against a battling St Johnstone side.

After a goalless 90 minutes, substitute Daniel McBreen put Saints ahead early in extra-time but Rangers equalised through Nacho Novo's penalty.

Alexander then proved the hero in the shoot-out, saving from Steven Milne and Jody Morris as the Glasgow giants triumphed 4-3.

Rangers will now face another First Division side - Queen of the South - at Hampden in the showcase on May 24.

Rangers assistant boss Ally McCoist paid tribute to their opponents.

"Anybody who takes any credit from today's game must be St Johnstone," McCoist told BBC Scotland. "I thought they were terrific. I've got a lot of sympathy for them to go out on penalties.

"But from our perspective I'm thrilled to be in the final. We're a better team than we showed today. I'm really disappointed with our performance but genuinely pleased we're through to the final."

Injuries to Chris Burke and Steven Naismith forced Rangers into two early changes and McCoist slammed the condition of the pitch.

"The injuries set us back massively," he said. "The pitch was probably as poor as we were.

"The injuries sustained today, a lot of it was down to the fact the pitch was hard and a little bit bumpy. It was a massive blow."

St Johnstone goalkeeper Alan Main felt the timing of Rangers' equaliser was crucial.

"We're devastated," he told BBC Scotland. "To lose on penalties is really disapoointing. How we played in the second half, I thought we'd go on and win, especially with big Dan coming on and scoring.

"But we could not hold on as long as we wanted. We played well but now we have to move on. We probably matched them. Good luck to Rangers, we've got next year.

"The goal came at a decent time and maybe if we'd held on in the first period it might have ended differently."

Main's penalty save from Brahim Hemdani levelled things up in the shoot-out and was one of a number of impressive stops he pulled off, but the 40-year-old was philosophical about events.

"I've saved a penalty and Neil's saved two and that's just the way things go," he added.

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