Velicka avoids chop to fire Rangers´ title charge

Rangers manager Walter Smith admitted Andrius Velicka was going to be replaced seconds before the Lithuania striker scored to keep his side’s title challenge on track.

Smith was ready to send on Kenny Miller in the second half at Easter Road on Sunday, but Velicka struck to make it 2-1 and Rangers eventually beat Hibernian 3-2 to close within one point of Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic.

Smith said: “Because of the pace of the games, you can see Steven Smith and Velicka starting to struggle a bit after an hour.

“They are getting better in terms of their sharpness but I was going to take Velicka off.

“This season at various stages we have had to bring in players who might not have played as much as they would have liked.

“But we always get a good reaction from them and there has been no problem with any of them in terms of committing themselves to the team.”

Steven Whittaker gave Rangers the ideal start to the game when he opened the scoring after only two minutes, before Steven Fletcher hauled Hibs back into the game.

Goals from Velicka and Maurice Edu then put the Ibrox side back in the driving seat, before John Rankin set up a tense finish to the game with a late strike.

Smith was relieved to hold on for all three points and was perplexed to discover Rangers will be back at Easter Road for a third time this term after the post-split fixtures were announced.

“It happens in this league, you can’t say you’re disappointed because it has happened to us in the past going away from home three times,” he said.

“If someone could explain how it works, maybe I could understand it better.”

Motherwell’s defeat at the hands of St Mirren 24 hours earlier meant Hibernian’s top-six place was already secure regardless of the outcome against Rangers.

Boss Mixu Paatelainen said: “There was no pressure in terms of qualifying for the top six. Overall, we had done enough in the season to qualify for the top six and we totally merited it.

“But the boys showed determination and sharpness in moving the ball. We wanted a good performance and we got it.

“It was a fantastic performance but you play for points so we can’t be satisfied if we don’t pick up the points.”