Right response – but Rangers lose the lead

naismith enjoys better show at ibrox

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RANGERS responded after a poor performance in Europe in midweek to give one of their best displays of the season at the weekend, even although they could take only a point in a 1-1 draw with Hibernian at Ibrox.

Rangers lost leadership of the SPL yesterday as Celtic won 2-1 at Hamilton.

The Light Blues’ performance was a far cry from their efforts in the Champions League last Tuesday when they took an early lead only to collapse to a 4-1 defeat by Romanian side Unirea Urziceni.

Asked how important it was to respond to that reverse, Rangers midfielder Steven Naismith said: “It was massive. We knew it was not good enough to perform the way we did in midweek. The whole performance wasn’t good enough. We got off to a great start and a team like Rangers should be pushing on and looking for a killer goal.”

Kris Boyd fired Rangers into the lead after just eight minutes against Hibs before Anthony Stokes levelled. Naismith fully expects Hibs to be challenging for a Europa League spot next term, but Stokes’s own ambitions for the Edinburgh club are slightly loftier.

Stokes said: “We’ve got to be thinking about third place. I don’t see why we can’t try and compete with the Old Firm.”

Hearts were booed off the pitch after an uninspiring performance saw Csaba Laszlo’s side fail to break down strugglers Falkirk in a goalless draw at Tynecastle.

Kevin Kyle’s second-half double gave Kilmarnock a 2-1 victory over St Johnstone at Rugby Park. The Killie captain headed the opener six minutes after the interval and then sealed the points just after the hour

In the second minute of added time, Killie defender Frazer Wright headed a Danny Grainger corner into his own goal.

Lukas Jutkiewicz scored twice late on as Motherwell came from two goals down to draw 3-3 away to St Mirren.