Govan Rear Bear

Easter Road provides stiff test for Gerrard and Rangers as they make final push for title. Easter Road is not a ground new to the concept of being an important venue in Rangers’ attempts to stop Celtic winning ‘ten-in-a-row’. It was there on 29 March 1975 that Rangers secured the league title for the first time in nine attempts and stopped Jock Stein’s Celtic from amassing ten consecutive titles. Rangers arrived on that day knowing that if they avoided defeat the title they so badly craved would be theirs. However Eddie Turnbull had created a formidable Hibs side, which had actually mounted a title challenge of their own – sitting ahead of Celtic in second place towards the end of the season. Rangers went behind after 19 minutes thanks to a goal from Ally MacLeod. Hibs were dominating and Rangers struggled to get any rhythm to their game. To compound matters, Sandy Jardine missed a penalty after Bobby McKean was brought down by Hibs’ keeper Jim McArthur – hitting his kick against the base of the post. But then came the moment that every Rangers supporter craved. Sandy Jardine drove past two Hibs defenders, laid the ball out wide for Bobby McKean who sent in a great cross which Colin Stein bulleted in to the top corner with a fantastic header. With the 1-1 result came the title and an end to Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football. Although Rangers won’t have the opportunity to win the title on Wednesday night there is a feeling that victory here will be another huge step for Rangers in their attempts to replicate that feat of the 1975 side. As things stand, Rangers are 28 points – or nine games – away from confirming their status as the champions of Scotland. After the depths the club has plummeted in recent years, it is hard to believe that they have reached the single figure mark in terms of the number of wins required. But the mood at Ibrox is not one of celebration. If anything, Steven Gerrard and his players seem more focussed now than ever in maintaining the levels which have put them 23 points clear and a position of considerable strength. The demolition of Ross County at Ibrox on Saturday was latest statement of intent, and one that was so impressive it even had Staggies boss John Hughes gushing in his praise. “We were up against a top class team,” he said afterwards. “I hope all my players come back and say ‘that’s how to play football.’” But Easter Road is always a tricky venue for Rangers and Gerrard’s record there – one win in four attempts – shows victory in Leith is far from a foregone conclusion. The sides fought out a 2-2 draw there in September in a game which had a nasty edge to it. Rangers, rightly, felt aggrieved with a poor decision which allowed Christian Doidge’s offside equaliser to stand, then Ryan Porteous exchanged words with Alfredo Morelos, James Tavernier and Steven Gerrard at the end of the game. Regardless of how timid Hibs were in Saturday's defeat to St Johnstone in the BetFred Cup semi-final, Gerrard knows his side will need to be at their best if they are to secure all three points. “Easter Road is always a tough challenge and probably one of the toughest away fixtures you can get in the schedule”, the Rangers manager said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “They are a good team, they've got good players and a good manager. I think our performances have been really good at Easter Road and maybe we haven't got the results we deserved. “We have had a couple of draws there where we have had double figures in terms of chances to win the game, so we have actually been a little bit frustrated and disappointed in the outcome of them.” One positive going into the game is the return of Ryan Jack to the squad. The midfielder made his comeback as a substitute against County on Saturday, managing to score within a few minutes of his introduction. Kemar Roofe has also returned to the squad and Scott Arfield’s rehabilitation continues well, which is good news for the Rangers boss as it increases his selection options at a time when he is looking to make that final push domestically, whilst preparing for the reintroduction of European football next month. For Hibs, the bright early season form has dipped somewhat. Two wins in their last six league games represents a miserly return for Jack Ross’s men. Add to that the aforementioned 3-0 defeat on Saturday to St Johnstone and you could easily describe their current run of form as poor. Not that anyone at Ibrox will view that as a reason to assume victory. On the field Gerrard continues to adopt a ‘one-game-at-a-time’ policy, but off the field plans are already afoot for the longer term with the announcements that Scott Wright has signed a pre-contract and will move to Ibrox in the summer, and that Kai Kennedy and Nathan Patterson have agreed extensions to their current deals. Gerrard appears keen to show there is a pathway to the first-team for academy players at Ibrox if they want it, with Patterson being the latest to benefit from this with a substitute appearance in the latter stages of Saturday’s win. “Ross [Wilson] and I have discussed our plan with Nathan for the incoming 18 months and have made our expectations clear”, said Gerrard. “Nathan is a strong example of our player pathway for those who are training with the first-team and in our Academy.” The expectation on any players stepping up through the ranks will be to be part of a squad and club that consistently wins titles. That has not been the case for a number of years. Victory on Wednesday will take Gerrard and Rangers a step closer to addressing that.

Jack’s back as Rangers put in five star performance. Ryan Jack made a scoring return to the Rangers first team today as the league leaders made another impressive statement on their title credentials with a 5-0 win over Ross County at Ibrox. The win takes Rangers 23 points clear with 13 games to play. Celtic still have three games in hand, but even the most optimistic of their supporters must now be approaching the point of accepting that the required winning run to claw back the difference is beyond Neil Lennon’s side. Steven Gerrard, taking charge of his 150th match as Rangers manager, named one change to the side which started last week at Fir Park with Filip Helander coming in for Leon Balogun. There was also a visible sign on the bench of the improving injury situation at Ibrox, where both Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe were named. It is widely accepted that Rangers have not been the in the free-flowing, high-scoring form that they displayed earlier in the season, with Ross County the last side to taka a battering from Steven Gerrard’s side in the 4-0 defeat in Dingwall in December. Today would be an even more chastening experience for the Staggies and recently appointed boss John Hughes, who went into the game today on the back of an impressive 4-1 win over Aberdeen last weekend. However Rangers looked up from it from the start and scored after six minutes thanks to Ryan Kent. James Tavernier sent a cross into the box, Morelos nodded it back across the face of goal for Kent to loop his header over Ross Laidlaw to give Rangers the early lead they craved. A couple of minutes later James Tavernier hit a free-kick just over the bar, giving Rangers the look of a side which wanted to get their business done early. In the 12th minute it looked like Rangers would do exactly that when they were awarded a penalty after Morelos robbed Callum Morris to run in on goal, only to be fouled before he could get his shot away. James Tavernier stepped up, but his effort was saved by Laidlaw – Tavernier’s second successive miss from the spot. Rangers continued to dominate possession and it didn’t take too much longer for them to double their lead, thanks to Filip Helander after 27 minutes. Borna Barisic sent in another great corner, Helander lost his man and rose to bullet home from just outside the six yard box. Barisic was involved again shortly after when he hit a free-kick which Laidlaw needed two attempts to gather. Then came the moment of the match from Joe Aribo. The Nigerian cut inside the box, beat Charlie Lakin and Connor Randall before curling a fantastic strike into the top corner, leaving Laidlaw helpless and all but confirming the three points for Rangers. Ianis Hagi was having an impressive game and had a couple of opportunities towards the end of the first-half. Firstly he hit a shot from just outside the area which flew narrowly over the bar. Then he was played in by Ryan Kent, but took a touch too many which allowed Morris the time he needed to block the Romanian's effort. As the teams went up the tunnel for half-time you would have been forgiven for suggesting the second-half was an effort in futility, however Ross County provided a reminder that there was still plenty to play for when Harry Paton struck the post seconds after the restart. The near miss provoked a response from Rangers with Alfredo Morelos coming close after a great turn and shot, then Ryan Kent came close with another header. Ross County struck the woodwork again after a header from Alex Iacovitti looped over Allan McGregor and hit the bar. Morelos then had another effort from outside the box go just wide. Joe Aribo then came really close to adding another outrageous act to his superb first-half goal when he audaciously flicked on a Tavernier corner, forcing a save from Laidlaw. Steven Gerrard then made four substitutions, including Ryan Jack who came on with Bongani Zungu, Jermain Defoe and Cedric Itten, in place of Steven Davis, Glen Kamara, Joe Aribo and Alfredo Morelos. It didn't take Jack long to make an impact with a goal four minutes after being introduced to proceedings. Jack started the move, playing a ball to Cedric Itten who laid the ball out wide to Hagi. Hagi sent the ball across the face of goal for Jack to come in and hammer home the fourth. Jack came close to scoring again after Nathan Patterson, who had replaced James Tavernier, played a ball to him on the edge of the box. Jack’s right foot shot looked like it was goal-bound until Laidlaw got a hand to it to put it wide. The fifth came with ten minutes to go thanks to Connor Goldson. Barisic sent in yet another great corner for Goldson to send it past Laidlaw with a well-placed header, which dinked off the post on its way in. Steven Gerrard was delighted with performance saying: “There's no such thing as a perfect performance for a manager, you're always looking for little things to improve on. “But we asked the players for a 90 minute performance and they delivered that today. We looked dangerous from start to finish. “We played with real urgency. We did all the right things and in possession we played some lovely football.” RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Kamara, Davis, Aribo. Kent, Hagi, Morelos. SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Balogun, Defoe, Itten, Zungu, Patterson, Roofe, Jack. ROSS COUNTY: Laidlaw, Randall, Hjelde, Morris, Iacovitti, Naismith, Lakin, Paton, Draper, Vigurs, Shaw. SUBS: Gardyne, Mckay, Hylton, Watson, Charles-Cooke, Tillson, Donaldson, Andreu, Munro. REFEREE: Euan Anderson

Itten scores again but Rangers fail to make it sweet sixteen at Fir Park Cedric Itten came off the bench to score his fourth goal against Motherwell as Rangers dropped points for only the third time this season with a 1-1 draw at Fir Park. The big Swede scored his first goal for club earlier in the season at the same ground, and he also bagged a vital goal in the 3-1 win against the Lanarkshire side at Ibrox last month – and it took the big striker to come off the bench again to get Rangers a vital goal which ensured Rangers maintained their points advantage at the top of the table. Rangers went into the game looking for their sixteenth consecutive win in the league against a Motherwell side without a win in eleven. However the Fir Park side had looked rejuvenated against St Mirren last week after the appointment of Graham Alexander, and Steven Gerrard had warned against complacency at his press conference on Friday. Gerrard named an unchanged eleven from the side which started at Pittodrie last week, meaning Steven Davis made his 300th appearance for Rangers as they looked to extend their lead to 23 points after Celtic dropped points against Livingston on Saturday. Rangers started very sluggishly and it was the home side who looked the more likely in the early stages, and they were rewarded in the 20th minute with a goal from Devante Cole. It was Cole who started the move from a throw-in, protecting the ball well and playing it out wide. Motherwell worked it well from there, allowing Tony Watt to send the ball across the face of the goal for Cole to slide in and tap it in. Rangers reacted well in terms of dominating possession, but struggled to break down a stubborn Motherwell defence. The only chance of note came from an Alfredo Morelos header, the Columbian rising well to get on the end of a great Borna Barisic cross and send the ball inches past Liam Kelly’s left-hand post. Into the second-half and Rangers started brightly with Hagi shooting wide seconds after the restart. Hagi was again involved when he sent over a great cross which Ryan Kent sheepishly headed wide when he should have done a lot better. It was another frustrating performance from the Englishman who has struggled with form of late. Kent had another opportunity a few minutes later when he cut inside and shot from the corner of the box, but hit it straight at Kelly. With Rangers dominating possession but struggling to create outright chances, Steven Gerrard turned to the man who had punished Motherwell in the previous two meetings and introduced Itten for Ianis Hagi on 54 minutes. The substitution inspired Rangers to their best chance of the match. Connor Goldson got on the end of Barisic corner to head brilliantly past Kelly, only to see it cleared off the line by Devante Cole. From the clearance Rangers worked it well again, and Tavernier put in a great ball which fell to Joe Aribo who fired it over the bar when it seemed easier to score. It was now one way traffic, with Rangers hemming Motherwell into their own half. Tavernier headed a ball over Liam Kelly, but no Rangers player was in sight to tap it in to the empty net as it bounced across the face of goal. Then came the equaliser from Itten. Rangers worked it well on the left-hand side, allowing Barisic to send in a great cross which the big striker headed past Kelly to give Rangers a deserved equaliser. In the closing stages Gerrard introduced Defoe and Barker for Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent as he looked for the winner which would extend Rangers’ lead. And it was Defoe who nearly, and arguably should have given Rangers a deserved win in the 92nd minute. Goldson sent the ball wide to Tavernier, who sent in a great cross. Defoe brought it down superbly well with a deft touch which set him up to turn superbly and get his shot away, only to hit it straight at Kelly. It would be Rangers’ last opportunity and they had to settle for a point. The result meant Steven Gerrard failed to equal Jock Wallace’s record of sixteen successive wins, and the Rangers manager couldn’t hide his disappointment at failing to extend the lead over Celtic further. “I don’t think we’ve got any complaints in terms of the result”, he said. “I think it took us 45 minutes to come to the game. “I’m disappointed with our showing in the first-half. I had to get into them a little bit at half-time, and I thought we were really good in the second-half. Over the course of the 90 minutes we probably deserved to win it on chances on our second-half showing. But the reality is we can’t come to a game at half-time when we are where we are. “There are two things as a manager you don’t want your team to do: you don’t want to start a game late, and you can’t leave games early – especially with what we’re playing for. “Hopefully this will be a valuable point come the end of the season”. MOTHERWELL: Kelly; O'Donnell, Gallagher, Mugabi, Carroll; Polworth, Crawford, Campbell, Seedorf; Cole, Watt SUBS: Morrison, Lamie, McGinley, White, Lawless, Maguire, Devine, McIver, Johnston RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic, Kamara, Davis, Aribo. Kent, Hagi, Morelos. SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Helander, Defoe, Itten, Zungu, Patterson, Barker, Stewart. REFEREE: Don Robertson

Rangers look to extend impressive winning run as Steven Davis celebrates 300th milestone. Preview: Motherwell v Rangers Sunday, 12:00 Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports Football. With Rangers going into this weekend’s game against Motherwell 21 points clear of Celtic, unbeaten in the league to date and on a superb winning run, you’d be excused for thinking that Sunday’s game against Motherwell was a mere formality. It is fair to say that Motherwell have not had their troubles to seek in what has been a bleak season so far. The Steelmen are currently without in a win eleven games and sit tenth in the table, one point off bottom placed Ross County, albeit having played two games less than the Highland club. Celtic’s draw with Hibs on Monday night in their rearranged fixture has given Steven Gerrard and his players the benefit of a 21 point lead, although that would be reduced if Celtic secure victory over Livingston on Saturday. The lead is a substantial one, even if Celtic do claw back full points in their games-in-hand. However you sense that Steven Gerrard is very uncomfortable at any talk of this league being over, and is wary of the challenge that a potentially rejuvenated Motherwell may provide at Fir Park. Speaking at his press conference on Friday he said: “We expect a tough challenge, we will certainly respect a new manager going in and things will be slightly different. “We have to be ready to adapt to whatever is thrown at us but our focus and the majority of our preparation has been on us, where we are at and what we have to do to try and get the three points. “A manager always goes in and tries to put his own stamp on things. Normally you get a bit of a bounce and a boost and you are galvanised. “I am sure they will be trying to do all they can to derail us and try and be the first team to beat us from a league point of view this season.” Celtic’s challenge is not yet over, but there is a feeling with every passing game that there is a real lack of belief in Neil Lennon’s squad that they have what it takes to claw themselves back into contention. The recent Dubai debacle provided further evidence suggesting that Celtic are off the pace in more ways than one in this campaign. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic now at a worse level than it was in March and April, there has been renewed talk of “null and void”. Wednesday’s meeting between member clubs and the SPFL Board provided more questions than answers, and resulted in series of statements from the likes of Falkirk, Partick Thistle and Stenhousemuir seriously questioning the governance of the game in Scotland. Add to that the sudden turnaround by the SPFL on the punishments dished out to St Mirren and Kilmarnock for breaching Covid protocols, and you suspect that Rangers will need to be more than better than Celtic on the park in the coming weeks and months if they are to secure their first title in nine years. As far as the Rangers manager is concerned, however, there is no debate on this issue. “My opinion on this is exactly the same as it was in March and April”, he said. "For football's sake and the sake of competition I think everything has to try to be finished in the right way. "I am not just saying that now because we are sitting where we are in the competition this year. Because my opinion was exactly the same in March and April. "My opinion will never change as long as I am involved in the game.” Gerrard provided some positive updates with regards to the current injury situation, confirming that Ryan Jack returned to full-training on Thursday and that Kemar Roofe should do the same at some point next week. Scott Arfield, who sustained ankle ligament damage against Dundee Utd in December, is still some way off returning but stepped up his rehab this week. Given that injury situation, it is hard to see Gerrard deviating much from the starting eleven which deservedly secured three points at Pittodrie last week, which will mean a 300th appearance in a Rangers jersey for Steven Davis. The Irishman has been a splendid servant for Rangers, and he has yet again shown a tremendous level of consistency in his performance levels this season. It would be a fitting reward for his efforts to secure his fourth league medal with the club. Rangers had moments last week against Aberdeen where they started to look like they were starting to fire on all cylinders again – perhaps a result of no midweek fixture for the first time this season. None looked more rejuvenated than Alfredo Morelos, who scored a double and put in a performance level rarely seen from the Columbian this season. If he is coming back into to a rich vein of form, then it has come at the perfect time. As for Motherwell, it is hard to see a repeat of the 5-5-0 formation which they adopted at Ibrox recently under Stephen Robinson. Robinson’s teams had a reputation for being overly physical. It will be interesting to see where new boss Graham Alexander takes them in terms of playing style. Alexander went with a 4-4-3 against St Mirren in his first game in charge last week, with a front three of Jake Hastie, Tony Watt and Devante Cole. Hastie is ineligible to play against his parent club, which makes you wonder is Alexander will opt for a 4-4-2 on Sunday. But the former Scotland international has already said that he will use a system that suits the players at his disposal, rather than enforcing his own style on a group of players which are not currently his. It is not the first head-to-head with Steven Gerrard for Alexander, and his previous experiences have not been good ones. "I’d rather forget those couple of occasions, to be fair” the Motherwell gaffer joked. “When I was in the Premier League with Burnley we played Liverpool at Anfield and Turf Moor against him and I think he scored a couple of goals and sent us down, actually, so I’ll want to thank him for that on Sunday”. Steven Gerrard will be hoping he extends his winning run against Motherwell and Alexander.

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Morelos double secures vital win at Pittodrie as Rangers go 22 points clear. Rangers extended their lead in the SPFL to 22 points after a double from Alfredo Morelos secured a vital win at Pittodrie. On an afternoon when Celtic’s folly in travelling to Dubai was confirmed, with the club announcing that at least one player has returned a positive test for Covid-19, Rangers put on a professional display to extend their lead further on the SPFL and take another step to securing their first league win since 2011. Steven Gerrard named one change from the eleven which started in the win over Celtic last Saturday, with Ianis Hagi coming in to replace the injured Kemar Roofe. Aberdeen made three changes from their goalless draw with Dundee United, the main one being on-loan Ranger Ross McCrorie, ineligible for selection against his parent club, who was replaced by Dean Campbell. Rangers won fairly comfortably at Pittodrie on the opening day of the season in a game which lacked any real highlights. The same could not be said of today’s encounter. Within 20 seconds Rangers should have been ahead after a mistake by Ash Taylor put Alfredo Morelos in on goal. The Columbian, who has struggled in front of goal this season, finished weakly and the chance was gone. A minute later Aberdeen then had a chance when a mix up in the Rangers defence allowed Sam Cosgrove to run in on goal. Connor Goldson managed to force the big striker wide, and he had to settle for shooting high and wide. Then on seven minutes Hagi unleashed a shot from outside the box which dipped just over the bar. Rangers were slowly asserting themselves on the game when they created their best opportunity through Ryan Kent. Barisic crossed into the box for Hagi to flick on. Kent set himself, beat his man and fired past Joe Lewis, only to see his effort cleared off the line by Jonny Hayes. The rebound found its way to Tavernier who unleashed a shot, only to see it saved by Lewis. Then Rangers had a great opportunity to take the lead thanks to a penalty after Morelos was fouled in the box. The Columbian played a great one-two with Joe Aribo, and was running in on goal when Hedges clipped his heels and brought him down. It would be Hedges last involvement in the game as referee Beaton viewed the incident as a denying a goal-scoring opportunity and produced a red card. Tavernier stepped up, but fired the spot-kick wide. That miss was only denying the inevitable, however, and Rangers took the lead on 32 minutes thanks to a great goal from Alfredo Morelos. Steve Davis played the ball to Tavernier who done well to beat his man and play it into Ryan Kent. Kent played a great ball into Morelos, who turned fired a great shot past Joe Lewis. The lead was the very least Rangers deserved after an excellent period of dominating possession and imposing themselves on the game. Aberdeen were extremely lucky not to be reduced to nine men after a shocking tackle by Curtis Main on Borna Barisic. Referee Beaton bizarrely viewed it as a yellow card. Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes took advantage of Beaton’s leniency and immediately took Curtis off and replaced him with Shane Logan just before the half-time break. Rangers wasted no time in the second-half in increasing their lead when Morelos scored again on 50 minutes – his 10th goal of the season. Some neat work from Rangers put Aribo in a good position running into the box. He placed a good ball into a dangerous area which was flicked on by Kent to Morelos, who took a touch before firing home his second of the game. Rangers then nearly went 3-0 ahead when Joe Lewis made a great save from Ryan Kent, who hit a great shot from outside the box. With Aberdeen down to ten and Rangers displaying some of their early season swagger, it seemed like a long way back for the Dons. However Aberdeen came close on 56 minutes to reducing the deficit when Jonny Hayes pulled a great save from McGregor after a quick free-kick caught the Rangers defence napping. Rangers failed to take heed of the warning, however, and Aberdeen pulled one back in the 66th minute when Matty Kennedy scored after a well-worked goal. Cosgrove put Jonny Hayes through who slipped the ball into Kennedy who finished well. Ryan Kent then had a chance to finish the game but opted to pass the ball when it was probably a better to take the shot on himself. Kamara then had a had good chance to score after a neat one-two with Morelos put him through on goal, only to see Joe Lewis save his effort. The win puts Rangers in a commanding position and Rangers’ manager Steven Gerrard was delighted with the win stating: “We’re very pleased with the result, obviously. We said before the game it would be a tough game. “I thought we were excellent until 2-0. I was really pleased with us in possession, the chances we were creating were very good. But at 2-0 we changed our mentality and our mindset. “There’s a lot of things we need to look at within the performance and the result. But to take nine-from-nine from Aberdeen is a big effort from the boys”. ABERDEEN: Lewis, Considine, Hoban, Taylor, Hayes, Hedges, Campbell, Ferguson, Wright, Main, Cosgrove. SUBS: Woods, Logan, Ojo, Kennedy, Anderson, Virtanen, Edmondson, McGinn, Ngwenya. RANGERS: McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic; Davis, Kamara, Aribo; Hagi, Kent, Morelos. SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Helander, Defoe, Itten, Zungu, Patterson, Barker, Stewart. REFEREE: John Beaton

Rangers extend lead to nineteen points after vital Old Firm victory. Rangers extended their lead at the top of the SPFL table to an impressive 19 points after a 1-0 win against a rejuvenated Celtic side at Ibrox today. Rangers went into the game on the back of an impressive winning run of 13 straight victories, but for long stages of proceedings today Rangers looked nervous as Celtic dominated possession. Steven Gerrard named two changes to his side, with Leon Balogun and Ryan Kent coming in at the expense of Filip Helander and Ianis Hagi. Of course today was not just about matters on the park, with the club commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Ibrox Disaster. Representatives from both Rangers and Celtic paid their respects by laying wreaths at the memorial statue prior to the match, including John Grieg who was captain on that fateful day in 1971. Rangers also wore a commemorative shirt with the words “Always Remembered” and the date of disaster printed on it. James Tavernier carried wreath onto the park as he led out the team, as did Celtic captain Callum McGregor. The club had planned to hold a service at Glasgow Cathedral, as was the case in 1971, however the current issues with the Coronavirus pandemic has forced the club to postpone the event until circumstances allow. Steven Gerrard echoed the club’s request for supporters to stay away from Ibrox at his press conference yesterday. The club also suggested that supporters could make an alternative gesture of respect by making a small donation to the St Andrew’s First Aid charity. St Andrew’s first aiders were one of the first on the scene at Stairway 13 in 1971, and were heavily involved in the emergency response. Supporters who wish to make donation can do so HERE or text SAFA to 70660 to donate £10. When the game started it was Celtic who looked the more likely and they came close early on when Odsonne Edouard’s shot was well saved by Allan McGregor, who would put in yet another masterful performance. Leigh Griffiths had a drive from the edge of the box which was too direct at McGregor, allowing him to deal with it comfortably. Then Callum McGregor had a strike which went inches past McGregor’s post with the Rangers number one looking on helplessly. Rangers then created their best chance of the first-half. Some neat work from Kamara and Kent allowed Joe Aribo to put a good ball into the box for Morelos who should have done better with his effort. But that opportunity failed to kick-start Rangers and it was Celtic yet again who came close when Griffiths curled a shot from the edge of the box which was superbly tipped onto the post by McGregor. The Rangers keeper made his 400th appearance for the club on Wednesday against St Mirren. It is not difficult to see how he has reached that milestone when he consistently produces moments like these in big games. Steven Gerrard was unimpressed enough with the first-half display to introduce Ianis Hagi in place of Kemar Roofe. Hagi didn’t take long to have an impact with a great effort from outside the box which flew past Vasilis Barkas’s post. Then Morelos had another chance to break his goal-scoring duck against Celtic when Joe Aribo fed a ball to the Columbian’s feet. Morelos turned well, but his shot was blocked by Kristoffer Ajer and went out for a corner. Then came the turning point in the match when James Tavernier sent a great ball down the channel which allowed Morelos to spin Nir Bitton and race in on goal. The Israeli pulled down the Rangers striker and gave referee Bobby Madden no option but to produce a red card. Rangers nearly scored from the resulting free-kick as Tavernier sent a great ball into the box which seemed destined to be met by more than one Rangers player, but somehow the opportunity was missed and Celtic managed to clear. James Tavernier then went on a great run which resulted in a foul just outside the box. Borna Barisic took the free-kick, only for it to deflected wide off Shane Duffy in the wall . Tavernier sent in another great ball from the resultant corner, Joe Aribo jumped to flick the ball on and deflect it off Callum McGregor and past the despairing Barkas to give Rangers the lead. Celtic were lucky not to be reduced to nine men when Shane Duffy crudely brought down Ryan Kent. The Republic of Ireland defender then nearly presented Rangers with a gift when he misplaced a pass to Kent who worked the angle for a shot, only for it to be blocked. Steven Gerrard introduced Cedric Itten in the latter stages for Morelos, as well as Zungu for Kent, as he looked to manage and see out the game. The win is Steven Gerrard’s third successive Old Firm victory and he was delighted with the three points stating afterwards: "It's another win and another clean sheet. I'm proud of the team in terms of their efforts, but in the first half we weren't good enough. We weren't ourselves and I thought we were second best in a lot of areas. "There was a big improvement in the second half. We were getting up to people and we were more aggressive. We were believing in ourselves in what we were trying to do. The sending off was a major incident in the game, and there only looked like one team was going to win it from there. "I asked the players how much they wanted to win a derby, especially here at Ibrox. We couldn't be passive and second best. Credit to Celtic in that first half, but we will remain humble now having stretched our lead. We're not always going to be pretty on the eye. "It's all about the outcome, and it's a good sign for us to win despite not being at our best. McGregor was outstanding. He's a world-class goalkeeper and he's reliable. I already knew about him but I know even more now why he's been successful at this club. He's bailed us out on a number of occasions. We will look to Aberdeen now and there's a lot of obstacles still to get over. Today was about making a statement but we don't look at leads. Our season starts now." RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic, Davis, Kamara, Aribo, Kent, Roofe, Morelos. SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Hagi, Defoe, Itten, Zungu, Barker, Helander, Patterson. CELTIC: Barkas, Bitton, Griffiths, Soro, Turnbull, Christie, Edouard, Frimpong, Ajer, McGregor, Laxalt. SUBS: Hazard, Taylor, Duffy, Brown, Ajeti, Rogic, Ntcham, Elyounoussi, Elhamed. REF: Bobby Madden

Lucky thirteen for Rangers as they secure vital win against St Mirren. Rangers maintained their impressive winning run in the Scottish Premiership with a comfortable win against St Mirren at the SMISA Stadium thanks to goals from Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos. The win was Rangers’ 13th on the trot and confirmed the club’s best start to a league campaign since 1928, with 17 clean sheets in their 21 league matches so far. The visit to Paisley was the second in as many weeks after the Buddies ended Rangers’ hopes of securing silverware in a surprise 3-2 defeat a fortnight ago in the BetFred Cup. However Rangers have recovered well from that shock defeat and arrived in Paisley on the back of a deserved win against Hibs on Boxing Day. Steven Gerrard named two changes from Saturday – out went Leon Balogun and Ryan Kent, with Filip Helander and Alfredo Morelos coming in. Any nerves Rangers supporters had about returning to the ground which ended a 27 unbeaten run in all competitions were not settled in the early stages as St Mirren created the first chance. Sloppy play allowed Jamie McGrath a shot at goal which Allan McGregor, making his 400th appearance for the club, made light work of. But it was a reminder to Rangers that they could not be complacent. St Mirren's recent form has been impressive and have made their best start to a league campaign since 1988. Jon Obika came close to potentially increasing that run when McGregor spilled Jamie McGrath’s shot, only for Obika to fire high and wide with the rebound. But Rangers kicked into gear and took the lead on the 27th minute when Kemar Roofe fired in his eighth goal in as many games after latching on to a through ball from Ianis Hagi – a wicked deflection off Conor McCarthy ensured Jak Alnwick was rendered helpless. Rangers doubled their lead five minutes later when Joe Shaugnessy was short with an attempted back-pass, which allowed Alfredo Morelos to run in and score his first goal in nine games. In the second-half Rangers controlled the game with some impressive possession play. Morelos tested Alnwick again from a tight angle, with Hagi unable to conjure up anything from the rebound. Then Roofe had his hooked effort cleared off the line by McGrath. Morelos then put Hagi through on goal – but the Romanian was forced wide and nobody could get on the end of his fierce drive across the face of goal. The win maintained Rangers’ 16 point advantage at the top of the table – although Celtic are still to play three games in hand – and they welcome the Parkhead club at Ibrox on Saturday. Steven Gerrard was delighted with the win, stating on Rangers TV: "We asked the players to really own the pitch out of possession, and can we get back to keeping clean sheets on the bounce. "We have done that and we have delivered that. I thought out of possession, we weren't really caused many problems. There were a few little nervy moments, but in the main, we have managed it really well. "Both number nines have scored a goal, I thought Joe Aribo and Glen Kamara were immense, and we have kept another clean sheet, so in the main, we are happy and we move into the weekend in a good place." Allan McGregor, who became the first Rangers goalkeeper since Peter McCloy to make 400 appearances for the club, played down his personal achievements to focus on a vital win. "I'm actually more pleased with the win. But it is a good achievement and it is one to definitely look back on when I retire, so I am pleased”, he said. Rangers now go into Saturday’s game with Celtic in the best possible shape. With trips to Pittodrie and Easter Road to come in January, Rangers will be looking to make a statement of their title credentials against their greatest rivals. RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Kamara, Davis, Kamara, Hagi, Roofe, Morelos. SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Defoe, Itten, Kent, Zungu, Patterson, Barker, Balogun ST MIRREN: Alnwick, Tait, Mason, Shaugnessy, McCarthy, Doyle-Hayes, Obika, McGrath, Connolly, Fraser, Erahon. SUBS: Flynn, Durmus, Dennis, McAllister, Foley, MacPherson, Morais, Erwin, Lyness. REFEREE: Alan Muir

Rangers make it 12 in a row with vital win over Hibs. Rangers secured a vital win against Hibs today to ensure they maintained their 16 point lead over Celtic as they head into a crucial seven day period in their quest to win their league title since 2011. Hibs had hoped to pose problems similar to those they caused when the sides last met in September when Rangers were held to a 2-2 draw at Easter Rd. With Jack Ross’s side unbeaten in their last ten outings, they had ambitions to cause further discomfort for Rangers in the most horrific of conditions at Ibrox as Storm Bella arrived in Glasgow bringing with her heavy winds and torrential rain. Steven Gerrard named one change to the side which defeated St Johnstone 3-0 on Wednesday night, with Leon Balogun coming in for Filip Helander. Hibs created the first chance of the game in the first minute when Josh Doig crossed for Martin Boyle, but the striker was stretching when he met the ball and put it wide of goal – much to the relief of Allan McGregor. Rangers nearly took the lead in the 18th minute through Leon Balogun. James Tavernier took a short corner to Joe Aribo, who found Balogun in the box. The big defender calmly passed the ball past Dillon Barnes, only to see this effort cleared off the line by Paul McGinn. Barnes was called into action again shortly after when he made a point blank save from a Connor Goldson header after yet another Tavernier corner. Ianis Hagi then came close with a shot from just outside the box that went narrowly wide. The Romanian would go one better with his next effort on goal. Glen Kamara played a great ball to Kemar Roofe just outside the box, the striker turned Ryan Porteous and made his way into the box before playing a perfect ball across the face of goal for the Hagi to come in and score his second goal of the week. The teams went in at half-time with Rangers one goal to the good. Balogun came close to scoring in the 65th minute when his shot was saved at point-blank range by Barnes following yet another Tavernier corner. However Rangers struggled to create the longer the game went on Hibs also offered very little, and only had one shot on target after Hallberg curled an effort from the outside of the box which McGregor did well to save. However they always carried a threat and succeeded in making the second-half awkward for Rangers by winning a series of corners and free-kicks on the edge of the box – which were all defended well by Rangers. Hibs also had a penalty claim in the closing stages when Hagi’s high boot appeared to make contact with Joe Newell's head in the box. However replay’s showed there was no contact. The scrappy nature of the second-half was probably best summed up by Scott Arfield’s contribution to proceedings. He was brought on in the 76th minute for Hagi, but had to leave the field six minutes later after being injured in an awkward challenge on Hallberg. The midfielder appeared to jar his ankle and was carried off and replaced by Bongani Zungu. Kevin Nisbet came close for Hibs in the latter stages, and Alfredo Morelos had a chance to make sure of the points, but neither side could add to the scoreline and Steven Gerrard was happy to secure a 12th successive victory in the league. Speaking on Rangers TV the gaffer said: “"It was a really tough game. We knew that Hibs would be a really big challenge for us today. "They are an organised team and they stay in the game really well. Their 'keeper has made some fantastic saves to keep the score at 1-0, and while it is at 1-0, you are always going to have those little 'nearly' moments towards the end. "It is another clean sheet and another big win - Hibs carry a threat as well and we have beaten a good team today.” RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic, Aribo, Davis, Kamara, Hagi, Roofe, Kent. SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Helander, Defoe, Itten, Zungu, Morelos, Barker, Arfield. HIBS: Barnes, P. McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Doig, Boyle, Gogic, Newell, Hallberg, Wright, Nisbet. SUBS: Samson, Gray, McGregor, Stevenson, S. McGinn, Bradley, Gullan. REFEREE: Willie Collum

Three and easy as Gers extend impressive winning run to maintain lead at the top. Rangers extended their impressive winning run tonight at McDiarmid Park as they cruised to a routine 3-0 win against St Johnstone. Saturday had provided an acid test of Rangers title credentials when they fought hard to beat a Motherwell side which defended in two lines of five and had a one goal lead to defend after six minutes. The victory had answered questions on Rangers’ ability to deal with the pressure that comes with a title winning run, but tonight’s proceedings proved to be a much more comfortable affair as Rangers secured the three points without any fuss. The victory was vital as Rangers head into a crucial part of the campaign. Hibs head to Ibrox on Saturday, then it’s a return to Paisley to face St Mirren before the end of the month and year. January provides no let-up with a home game against Celtic and away trips to Easter Rd, Pittodrie and Fir Park. Rangers were still without Ryan Jack, however the midfielder may be available for selection for Saturday. Alfredo Morelos started on the bench after returning to the squad after his two match suspension. Scott Arfield and Jermain Defoe surrendered their starting berths to Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi as Steven Gerrard made two changes to his starting eleven from Saturday. Yet again Rangers started slowly, but it didn’t take too long for them to take the lead thanks to Kemar Roofe on 24 minutes. Glen Kamara picked out Ianis Hagi on the edge of the box. The Romanian international released a shot which Zander Clark failed to hold, allowing Roofe to hit home the rebound from close range. Rangers extended the lead just five minutes later after a great pass from Joe Aribo put Glen Kamara through, allowing the Finnish internationalist to touch the ball past the onrushing Clark and into the net. Any remaining doubts about the result were dismissed after only two minutes of the second-half. Joe Aribo was heavily involved again with another great pass sending Roofe through on goal. Roofe unleashed a shot which was blocked, but the rebound landed at the feet of Ianis Hagi who fired home to put the result beyond any doubt. The game was all but done and dusted, but there was still time for further action. Firstly, Allan McGregor made a superb one-handed save from a Stevie May shot after the striker found himself through on goal on the 56th minute. Then St Johnstone substitute Michael O’Halloran was sent off after two yellow cards for fouls on Alfredo Morelos and Borna Barisic ended his involvement in the game a mere six minutes after coming on for Danny McNamara. Rangers had further opportunities to extend their lead, most notably a bad miss from Morelos when it seemed easier for the Columbian to score, but they could not add to their goals tally. Steven Gerrard was delighted with the win saying: "Over the course of the 90 minutes, we were strong, we executed really well and players are either in-form and staying in-form or people are coming into form. "Joe Aribo is starting to flex his muscles again, Kemar Roofe again showed his predatory instincts and the Buff came on and did really well. "We get the players recovered tomorrow and then we see our families and we enjoy our Christmas dinner. Christmas night we get back to work. We've got short sharp session on Christmas night. Full focus on Hibs because it's such an important fixture." ST JOHNSTONE: Clark, Rooney, Gordon, McCart, Booth, Davidson, Bryson, Wotherspoon, Conway, Kane, McNamara. SUBS: Parish, Craig, McCann, O'Halloran, Hendry, May, Melamed, Ferguson. RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Davis, Kamara, Aribo, Kent, Hagi, Roofe SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Defoe, Itten, Zungu, Patterson, Morelos, Balogun, Arfield. REFEREE: Nick Walsh

Rangers answer questions on title credentials after crucial win against Motherwell Rangers extended their lead in the SPL to 16 points at Ibrox today, answering questions about their mentality in a hard fought but deserved win against Motherwell. If any game should have deemed a formality this weekend, it would be the meeting at Ibrox today. Going into the game Rangers had only lost one game in all competitions, had a achieved a 27 game unbeaten run and were looking for a tenth successive league win. But an unexpected bump in the road, thanks to a defeat in the BetFred Cup to St Mirren on Wednesday, had raised the age old questions about the mentality of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers and winning when it mattered. Approaching January, the month where things have traditionally gone wrong for the former Liverpool legend, the timing of the defeat on Wednesday could not have been worse. Add to the equation that Celtic appeared to have turned a corner of late, then you can understand why there was a greater sense of anxiety around those with blue tinted noses going into the game. But Rangers answered those questions emphatically with a vital win. Gerrard made five changes to his side, bringing in Filip Helander, Borna Barisic, Glen Kamara, Steven Davis and Jermain Defoe to replace Leon Balogun, Calvin Bassey, Bongani Zungu, Joe Aribo and Cedric Itten. Rangers started brightly, with Jermaine Defoe forcing a save from Jordan Archer and then hitting a shot just wide of the post in the first couple of minutes. But Rangers found themselves one down after some more slack defending in the sixth minute. Borna Barisic failed to stop Stephen O'Donnell firing a low cross across the face of the goal, and Callum Lang scored at the back post to put the visitors 1-0 up. Rangers had an opportunity to get a quick equaliser with a free kick just outside the box, but James Tavernier couldn’t repeat his heroics of last week fired it just over the bar. Ryan Kent then had a great chance to equalise on 25 minutes after some good work from Tavernier allowed Steve Davis to send in a great cross, which Kent headed just wide of the post. Then Roofe turned nicely in the box but fired his shot straight at Archer. Rangers were turning up the heat by this point and Tavernier had a great chance at the back post after Barisic sent in a great cross, but the Englishman, looking for his 18th goal of the season, failed to connect with it properly. Steven Gerrard introduced Joe Aribo at half-time in place of Glen Kamara in attempt to get Rangers back in the game. But for long periods Rangers looked devoid of any invention or creation, despite having the lion share of possession. In an attempt to inspire some sort of reaction Gerrard introduced Hagi for Arfield and Itten for Defoe. Rangers continued to dominate possession, but there was a strong feeling of déjà vu about proceedings until the 72nd minute when Kemar Roofe equalised when he turned inside the box and hammered home after Motherwell failed to clear their lines. Roofe then came close to giving Rangers the lead minutes later when his header went inches past the post. Rangers still needed a winner, however, and it arrived with eight minutes to go thanks to substitute Cedric Itten after James Tavernier’s corner evaded everyone in a crowded six yard box and he headed in at the back post. It was a huge moment for Rangers and they secured the win in the 94th minute when Joe Aribo stabbed the ball to Roofe in the box who turned and finished from close range in a similar fashion to his first. Steven Gerrard was delighted with the win afterwards stating: “I’m really proud and pleased with how we reacted to going a goal down. We kept asking questions all afternoon. We were relentless at finding a way back into the game. It was important that players stuck to their roles. “Eventually our success came. It was about staying calm at the half-time and making the subs at the right time. I thought the subs were really, really big for us today”. RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Arfield, Davis, Kamara, Roofe, Kent, Defoe. SUBS: McLaughlin, Bassey, Hagi, Itten, Zungu, Patterson, Aribo, Barker, Stewart. MOTHERWELL: Archer, O'Donnell, Gallagher, Mugabi, Lamie, Grimshaw, O'Hara, Crawford, Campbell, Lang, Watt. SUBS: Chapman, McGinley, White, Maguire, Seedorf, Polworth, Cornelius, Johnston, Cole. REFEREE: Don Robertson

Sluggish Rangers pass up another opportunity for silverware. Rangers passed up the opportunity to win their first major trophy in nine years at the SMISA Stadium in Paisley last night as they went out of the BetFred Cup in a shock defeat to St Mirren. You have to go back to March 2011 the last time Rangers reached and won a League Cup final. On that day goals from Steven Davis and Nikica Jelavić ensured that Walter Smith had a successful final visit to Hampden as Rangers manager. Davis, the only survivor from that game, was on the scoresheet tonight, but his goal could not stop Rangers from defeat. With Celtic humiliated in the previous round against Ross County, the odds on Rangers securing their first major trophy in almost a decade looked favourable. But with St Mirren on an undefeated run stretching back to 24 October, this tie always had the potential to be tricky. Denied the services of Alfredo Morelos thanks to Clare Whyte, the SFA Compliance Officer, Gerrard introduced Swiss striker Cedric Itten. The big striker has arguably made a decent claim for a starting berth of late. Morelos’s folly at Tannadice on Sunday gave him his opportunity. It is hard to argue that he took advantage of it. It is hard to argue that he took advantage of it. Gerrard also introduced Calvin Bassey, Bongani Zungu and Scott Arfield in place of Borna Barisic, Steven Davis and Glen Kamara. Rangers accepted the two game ban for Morelos without complaint, but it is hard to imagine that many at Ibrox will miss Whyte when she vacates her role early next year. You won’t find anyone at Ibrox defending Morelos’s actions at Tannadice, however the fact that he was booked for the incident has raised further questions about consistency when players are cited for retrospective action. But despite no Morelos, Rangers, who were sporting their new retro kit, didn’t take long to take lead thanks to Connor Goldson. The Englishman has been in about the goals this season and he added to his impressive tally after a superb run and finish in the sixth minute. From that point Rangers displayed the type of possession football that has typified their season so far. There were opportunities to extend the lead in the first half, and Cedric Itten had a header cleared off the line as Rangers looked to put this game to bed. However St Mirren were awarded a penalty after 39 minutes after Calvin Bassey brought down Jamie McGrath. Kent was careless with possession in his own half, the transition caught out Bassey and McGrath converted the resultant spot kick to put St Mirren level. Rangers started the second-half sluggishly and allowed St Mirren to take the lead on 52 minutes through McGrath again. Dylan Connolly somehow managed to get a weak cross past Bassey and Balogun, and McGrath took advantage of some even more comical defending to pass the ball in from six yards. From that point on Rangers looked lost and struggled to get back in the game. Gerrard used several substitutions in attempt to reboot his players but it seemed all was lost until the dying minutes of the match when James Tavernier hit another superb free-kick which hit the post, only for Steven Davis to rifle in the rebound past a despairing Jak Alnwick. At that point it felt like Rangers had saved themselves and that extra-time was inevitable. But further poor defending allowed St Mirren to score in injury-time through Connor McCarthy. Allan McGregor pulled off an excellent save to deny a Tait header, however the rebound fell at McCarthy’s feet who rifled in from short range. The defeat is a crushing blow to Rangers, who were overwhelming favourites to win the tournament, and Steven Gerrard couldn’t hide his disappointment after the game claiming his players had missed a “big, big opportunity”. "What they have given me this season has been outstanding. As a group we've enjoyed praise, so we're going to have to take what comes our way, which will be the complete flip of that. We deserve that", he said. "We've dominated large parts of the game in terms of possession. We haven't built on the first goal and we've concede three sloppy goals. We've got two choices now - we either show a reaction from this and use the disappointment in a positive way or we let it fester and it carries on to the next game. "At times you're going to get a bump on the road. My job's to pick this group up now. We haven't felt this for a long time, so it's important we react in the right way." ST MIRREN: Alnwick, Tait, Mason, Shaughnessy, McCarthy, Fraser, Doyle-Hayes, McGrath, Connolly, Erhahon, Obika SUBS: Lyness, Flynn, Foley, MacPherson, McAllister, Durmus, Dennis, Erwin, Jamieson RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Bassey, Arfield, Zungu, Aribo, Roofe, Kent, Itten. SUBS: McLaughlin, Helander, Hagi, Defoe, Davis, Patterson, Kamara, Barker, Barisic. REFEREE: David Dickinson

Nail on the head stuff there, John! Geart read.

Oi!

Brilliant!!

Don't be pulling out the excuses Pete - get that sun sent over. I spent £150 on a BBQ and its hardly been used in the last three weeks!

I mailed it over for you in the first class post yesterday - so get some of that BBQ weather sent back in return!

Aye very good!