By Emma Dodds in Hannover

WALTER SMITH handed Rangers debuts to Jean-Claude Darcheville and Kirk Broadfoot tonight but the Light Blues' winning pre-season form stuttered with a 1-0 defeat to Hannover.

It was a fiercely contested match in the AWD Arena and one which probably deserved to end a draw, but the hosts clinched victory through an own goal from David Weir after 53 minutes.

The Scottish international rose well to head clear Jiri Stanjner's cross from the left, but the ball dropped perfectly for Sergio Pinto who drilled a shot off Weir's chest and as a result past the wrong-footed Allan McGregor.

Rangers tried to step up a gear in search of an equaliser and Darcheville looked hungry for a goal on his debut after coming on at the break. Lee McCulloch, Libor Sionko and Charlie Adam also came off the bench to feature for the second half.

In preparation for their stiffest test of the pre-season tour Walter Smith named a strong line-up to start against the Bundesliga outfit.

It was a chance to field a mixture of players who had been separated in the previous two matches, pairing David Weir with Carlos Cuellar in the heart of defence and reuniting Barry Ferguson in a midfield three with Brahim Hemdani and Kevin Thomson.

Chris Burke, Kris Boyd and DaMarcus Beasley also came back into the fold and the American winger was in direct competition with his international team mate Steven Cherundolo in the first half.

A large crowd turned out for this friendly encounter and although chances were few and far between, the match was closely contested with both sides fighting for every ball.

Clearly making more of an effort to surge forward this season, Sasa Papac linked well with DaMarcus Beasley after 20 minutes to break beyond the Hannover backline. The Bosnian raced to the edge of the box before curling in an excellent low cross, but no one could react quickly enough for Gers to divert home.

Arnold Bruggink had a great chance to test Allan McGregor's resolve just after the half hour mark, but fired his free kick high over the bar from 30 yards.

From the resultant goal kick Boyd was then denied by the bar, but it wouldn't have counted anyway as he was judged to be marginally offside.

With four changes at the break Gers came out of the blocks quickly with Darcheville looking lively up front.

But it was the home side who took the lead when Weir deflected Pinto's shot into the net, when McGregor looked to have the initial effort covered.

Two of the subs linked well after 68 minutes when Darcheville cut the ball back to McCulloch on the edge of the area. The ex-Wigan midfielder struck a sweet shot, which looked to be heading goal-bound, but Robert Enke produced a fine save to deny the leveller.

Michael Tarnat tried his luck for Hannover with a low free kick a minute later, but the wall stood strong and blocked the effort, albeit conceding a corner.

The Gers defending was not so impressive at the following flag kick as Hanno Balitsch broke free to head inches past the post.

The defeat makes for a disappointing end to a very successful tour in Germany but Gers will fly home tomorrow ready to bounce back against Falkirk on Saturday.

RANGERS: 1-McGregor; 2-Hutton, 5-Cuellar, 4-Weir, 3-Papac (17-Broadfoot 61); 6-Ferguson, 10-Hemdani (20-Adam 45), 8-Thomson; 7-Burke (23-Sionko 45), 9-Boyd (18-Darcheville 45), 11-Beasley (19-McCulloch 45).

SUBS: 14-Murray, 15-Novo, 16-Smith, 21-Gow, 22-Sebo

BOOKINGS: Darcheville 73, Hutton 86

HANNOVER 96: 1-Enke; 6-Cherundolo, 2-Bergantin, 22-Fahrenhorst, 18-Tarnat; 23-Yankov, 14-Balitsch; 7-Pinto (17-Krebs 75), 10-Bruggink (26-Rosenthal 61), 21-Lauth (19-Thorvaldsson 78); 24-Stajner (Husti 67)

SUBS: 20-Golz, 3-Zuraw, 5-Kleine, 8-Lala, 27-Schroter.

BOOKINGS: Rosenthal 66, Yankov 73

Referee: Florian Meyer