Rangers head to St Johnstone on Saturday as they continue their pursuit of Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic.
The Gers saw a 15-point lead at the summit evaporate prior to the New Year and now find themselves playing catch-up as they seek a fourth Scottish title in a row. While throwing away such a huge lead will have no doubt rocked Ally McCoist’s men, they did pick themselves up at the start of 2012 by beating Motherwell 3-0 before easing past Arbroath in the Scottish Cup.
Now they face a trip to St Johnstone, a place where they have already picked up three points this season. However, the Saints have proved they are no pushovers when it comes to facing the Old Firm this season. The Saints have picked up four points against Glasgow’s big two this season, drawing at Ibrox and winning at Celtic Park, and they will be confident of doing more damage to the Gers’ title ambitions this weekend.
St Johnstone are enjoying a three-game winning run in all competitions, with Francisco Sandaza in particularly good form with four goals from his last three outings.
Rangers’ goal threat comes in the obvious form of Nikica Jelavic, but injuries to Steven Naismith and Kyle Lafferty have given an opportunity to fringe players David Healy and John Fleck.