Kris Boyd scored twice, taking his season's tally to 28, as Rangers defeated Motherwell 3-1 at Ibrox. Andrius Velicka opened the scoring for the Gers before Boyd doubled the hosts advantage.

Motherwell gave themselves brief hope when John Sutton pulled a goal back, but Boyd had the last word with a decisive penalty.

"I felt he was excellent today," said Rangers boss Walter Smith.

"He (Boyd) has been playing really well for the last couple of months. He has played for the team.

"He went through a spell of not scoring but you know he will always come back. It's his overall performances which have been excellent and that has been the biggest thing.

"If he plays like that, he will always score, he will always get you a goal. He had a smashing goal for our second today."

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee admitted Boyd was the difference: "We couldn't handle Boyd in particular.

"I'm convinced that, if Kris Boyd had been playing for us today, we would have won. I think he was the big difference between the teams. We just couldn't handle him."