Rangers hope to cruise to title

Steven Davis believes Rangers’ easing injury list means they can maintain their 10-point lead over Celtic in the race for the Scottish Premier League title.

The Northern Irish midfielder was on target for the first time this season in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over St Mirren which saw Rangers increase their advantage at the top.

Victory came as Celtic were slumping to a 2-1 home defeat to Hibernian.

Rangers, who face relegation-haunted Falkirk on Saturday, had looked a little threadbare in recent weeks due to injuries and suspensions to key players.

Davis and his teammates had to rely on a last minute goal to rescue a point against Hearts last weekend as Walter Smith called-up several youth players.

However Nacho Novo, Kenny Miller, Steven Naismith and Pedro Mendes all returned in the midweek win over St Mirren and Davis believes this can boost their title hopes.

“These are difficult times for us at the moment with the number of injuries we have. This month, in particular, has been quite hard for the boys,” Davis said.

“But the boys who have come in have given the manager something to think about and we are starting to get a couple of players back. We have been missing a couple of important players recently and it will be good for us to get them back fit and get going again.”

Davis added: “We had a great run in December, but since then we have had injuries and suspensions and the manager has had to chop and change the side about. That can be disruptive.

“If we get everybody back fit it gives the manager a headache, a selection problem. Hopefully we can start playing better. We are capable of playing better.”

Kenny Miller may struggle to make the match against bottom club Falkirk after going off against St Mirren with a recurrence of his hamstring injury and top scorer Kris Boyd is still out.

Old Firm rivals Celtic head to New Douglas Park to take on Hamilton on the back of a costly defeat to Hibs.

Coach Tony Mowbray has stated that his side need to start winning games with his side only having claimed one victory so far this month and he will be boosted by the news several players have returned to training.

Scott McDonald, Mark Wilson and Shaun Maloney are all pushing for a top team return but the game against Hamilton may come too soon.

The Hoops boss might also be without Daniel Fox who is on the verge of joining English Premier League Burnley, but new signings Ki Sung-Yeung, Jos Hoovield and Morten Rasmussen, who made his debut against Hibs, are all available.

Elsewhere on Saturday only goal difference separates Aberdeen and Motherwell who meet at Pittodrie.

High-flying Hibs host St Mirren at Easter Road. John Hughes’ side sit in third-place, just two points behind Celtic, and any slip up from the Hoops could find Hibs climbing into the Champions League places.

Rugby Park is the destination for Peter Houston in his first game after being confirmed as Dundee United manager until the end of the season.

Kilmarnock are just one point above the relegation zone and are yet to win in the league under Jimmy Calderwood.

St Johnstone welcome a Hearts team looking to bounce back from their midweek thrashing at the hands of Aberdeen to McDiarmid Park.

Fixtures (1500 GMT unless otherwise stated)

Saturday

Aberdeen v Motherwell, Hamilton v Celtic (1230), Hibernian v St Mirren, Kilmarnock v Dundee United, Rangers v Falkirk, St Johnstone v Hearts