Kris Boyd struck twice as Rangers overcame a dogged St Mirren 2-1 at Ibrox. It took only 19 seconds for Boyd to open his account and whilst St Mirren's Garry Brady hit the post, Boyd got a second on 57 minutes when he diverted in Nacho Novo's shot.

Stephen O'Donnell's late strike for St Mirren sparked a nervy finish, but the home side claimed all three points.

Rangers boss Walter Smith: "I felt we started very well but St Mirren got themselves into the game and they were the better side before half-time.

"We imposed ourselves better in the second period, but we weren't quite slick enough in the final third.

"Kris Boyd and John Fleck played very well for us and overall - given the difficult match we had in midweek and the bug affecting some of our team - we acquitted ourselves well today.

"We were disappointed to lose the goal at the end and if I'm being greedy perhaps we could have been a little bit more accurate in the last third of the park."

As for St Mirren chief Gus MacPherson: "We're extremely disappointed to lose the goals in the manner that we did - especially one after 20 seconds.

"I thought we created two or three good opportunities and I was disappointed to go in down at the break.

"We showed a lot of courage to pass the ball in the way we did.

"If maybe we had got the goal back a wee bit earlier, who knows what could have happened."