Rangers

• St Mirren have lost 23 of their last 25 league meetings with Rangers (D2) since a 2-1 victory in December 2011.

• This will be the fifth league meeting between St Mirren and Rangers on Boxing Day. The Ibrox side have won all four to date (1908, 1938, 1970, 2021) by an aggregate score of 9-1.

• Rangers have won their last two away league games, as many as their previous 10 on the road beforehand (W2 D3 L5).

• Rangers have only lost one of their last 26 Boxing Day league games (W22 D3), going down 1-0 to Motherwell in 2002.

• St Mirren have lost three of their last four Scottish Premiership games on Boxing Day, winning the other 2-0 against Ross County in 2020.

Jamie Currie
Fan writer

The game against Dundee marked 125 years of our magnificent stadium and it was all about how the team responded to last week's cup final debacle.

I was pleased to hear Nedim Bajrami and Philippe Clement address the non-penalty in their post-match press conferences. This is an issue that shouldn't be overlooked or dismissed as 'white noise.'

Despite Vaclav Cerny's winner against a stubborn Dundee team - in a game where the VAR protocols were correctly followed - we were quite wasteful in front of goal.

That said, we are starting to play some decent football and create chances. In the earlier part of the season, it felt like we struggled to make many opportunities throughout a match.

It could have been five or six, especially when we hit the bar four times. It's positive signs and you have to hope the reprehensible cup final decision will light a fire in these players and possibly help the manager to cultivate a siege mentality going forward.

Things are looking far better when you consider how we looked domestically prior to that Kilmarnock game at the start of the month.

It's great to have Hamza Igamane and Danilo along with Cerny, Bajrami and Ianis Hagi and now we will have Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo back on the wings. It makes a marked difference to our attacking play.

We will need all those players to be firing over the next four games as we enter a challenging period of the season. However, we have moved into second and clawed back two points on Celtic too.

So all in all, it was a decent week for us. Let's hope it continues over the coming games.

Rangers are open to offers for academy graduates Alex Lowry, 21, and Adam Devine, 21, in the January transfer window. (Rangers Review), external

A goal from former Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos, 28, helped Atletico Nacional to the Colombian league title. (Scottish Sun), external

And Morelos credited former Colombia goalkeeper Rene Higuita - who is now a coach at Atletico - for changing his "whole mentality". (Herald), external

Former Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha has been appointed as the new manager of Brazilian club Santos. (Santos FC on X), external

Former Rangers player Ian Murray, 43, is a candidate to replace James McPake as Dunfermline Athletic boss. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Rangers managed to eke out a 1-0 victory over Dundee which, after Aberdeen's defeat to Hibs, moved Philippe Clement's side up to second in the Premiership and they have one player in my Team of the Week.

Once again Vaclav Cerny was the difference maker for Rangers. Has a level of real quality when required.

Sportscene pundit Neil McCann dissects Ianis Hagi's contribution and Rangers' performance in the 1-0 win against Dundee.

(Available to UK users only)

Rangers will look to sell a couple of players in the January transfer window as they aim to cut costs. (Football Insider), external

Rangers want to continue to strengthening their board following the appointments of chairman Fraser Thornton and chief executive Patrick Stewart. (Football Insider), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Watch the best of the action from Ibrox as Rangers win 1-0 against Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.

(Available to UK users only)

Image source, SNS

Liam Kelly fulfilled a lifetime's ambition by making his Rangers debut - and crowned it with a clean sheet in the win over Dundee.

The 28-year-old goalkeeper, who came through the youth ranks at Ibrox before leaving for Livingston in 2018 then returning this year, was given his chance when Jack Butland was ruled out for personal reasons just before kick-off on Saturday.

"It felt unbelievable," said Kelly.

"I've been at Rangers a long, long time. Twenty years ago I first walked through the gates of the training centre. So that's what I've waited for, for the majority of my life.

"Over the moon, I got a clean sheet and a victory. I am so happy.

"That's why I signed, in case I was ever called upon. We do a lot of work with Colin Stewart, the goalie coach, to be ready.

"So in the warm-up, after I got the news that I was going to be playing, he just said, 'Let's go, that's what we're training for'. So big thanks to him. Big thanks to my mum and dad and my grandad.

"They've obviously put a lot of effort into getting me here. They took me to a lot of Rangers games over the years.

"I was really nervous. I just didn't want to let anybody down. I've still got full belief in my own ability. The boys played well, helped me a lot and we move on."

We asked for your views on Rangers' 1-0 Premiership win at home to Dundee.

Here's what some of you said:

Gerry: After two uplifting performances it was back down to earth with a bang. We just can't seem to put teams to the sword that come to Ibrox and sit back. We had enough chances, is it anxiety that creeps in playing teams we should beat comfortably at home?

Ronnie: A frustrating 90 minutes but the right result. Why do we struggle to put games to bed against mediocre teams? We dominated throughout yet could have shipped two points at the death. Hamza Igamane was largely ineffectual and despite the noise around him, he has a lot to improve in his game. Good to see James Tavernier once again have a strong 90 minutes.

Finlay: The second-half performance was nowhere close to what the past two games and the first half have been. We can now celebrate being second in the table, which over the past few games we have shown we deserve. I'm not saying any criticism about the team. The problem was the crossbar was our enemy.

Peter: Another impressive performance, good flowing football, any other day the ones that hit the woodwork would have went in.

Chris: I feel like it was three steps backwards again, I can't get my head around why we are so bad in the league. We need to start blowing teams away at Ibrox again to reinstate the fear factor. Finishing mediocre teams off like Dundee should be easy, but something's not quite working yet.

Robert: Competent display, the result was never in doubt, the woodwork will need repainted, we still require to be more clinical in front of goal.

Image source, SNS

• Vaclav Cerny has scored seven goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), more than any other Rangers player.

• Dundee have a record of W0, D1, L4 when conceding the opening goal away from home in the Premiership this season.

• Rangers have scored in each of their last eight games in the Premiership, scoring 16 goals in that run.

Rangers are weighing up a move for Standard Liege midfielder Isaac Price, with a mystery English Championship club also doing their homework on the Northern Ireland international. (Walfoot via Daily Record, external)

Rangers midfielder Ianis Hagi is wanted by Serie A side Genoa, recently taken over by Romanian businessman Dan Sucu. (Gazzetto dello Sport, external - in Italian)

Jack Butland made a dramatic exit from Ibrox minutes before Rangers were due to kick off against Dundee yesterday, with the goalkeeper later posting a social media image of himself cradling a new born baby. (Scottish Sun), external

Read the rest of Sunday's Scottish gossip.

Image source, Getty Images

Vaclav Cerny's 10th goal of the season gave Rangers victory over Dundee and moved them up to second in the Scottish Premiership for the first time this season.

After being frustrated in the first half, Rangers struck one minute after the break when Danilo played in Cerny, who ran through and scored after neatly rounding goalkeeper Trevor Carson.

It should have been more, too, as Rangers cracked the crossbar four times.

Let us know your thoughts on Rangers' performance.

Image source, SNS

Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "We had good chances but you need the second goal to kill the belief of the opponent, that's what we missed today. We had enough opportunities to score the second or third goal.

"Sometimes you need luck, but he important thing is the three points and it was well deserved. Liam Kelly didn't really have to make a save so defensively we did a good job.

"We always want to give our fans more than 1-0. We want to score three, four. We didn't succeed today - the crossbar didn't help today but we need to keep the momentum going.

"People don't need to worry about Jack Butland, he missed out for personal reasons and it was very short term. He will be back for the next game."

Thomas Duncan
BBC Sport Scotland

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Cerny, despite frustrating at times in his early Rangers career, continues to be the man who comes up with big moments.

And while this game should not just have come down to his goal, it proves he remains the one with the most poise and composure in the final third.

He is an elegant player to watch as he bobs and weaves away from defenders, and he did so efficiently to leave Carson flailing at his feet for the goal.

Four wins in a row in the league is Rangers' best run of the season and they have leapfrogged a struggling Aberdeen into second.

Hagi continues to impress and bring an extra dimension to Rangers' attack, while Igamane is raw but coming on strong.

However, their lack of ruthlessness left them open to a sucker punch at the end and Dundee nearly provided it.

The short-term task is to win every game up until the Old Firm derby at Ibrox on 2 January when they have a chance to lay a glove on Celtic.

Phillipe Clement has confirmed centre-back John Souttar will be missing for "several weeks" after limping off against Tottenham in the Europa League draw.

Dujon Sterling partners Robin Propper at Ibrox for the visit of Dundee, with Leon Balogun dropping to the bench.

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Nedim Bajrami insists "mentally strong" Rangers are ready to move on from their League Cup final anguish when they welcome Dundee to Ibrox on Saturday in Premiership action.

Albania midfielder Bajrami opened the scoring in the epic 3-3 Hampden draw with Celtic before Rangers lost 5-4 on penalties after being incorrectly denied a penalty.

"We know everyone was disappointed and I think everyone saw that was a clear penalty," said Bajrami.

"We had a meeting about that, but this is gone now. We're looking forward to tomorrow and we are back to the league.

"We did a great job the last couple of weeks and everyone, every player is growing up and we have to keep going like that.

"We are a strong team. We are mentally strong, so we are looking forward game by game and this is gone now.

"I've played a lot of games in big stadiums, but I think this one [the cup final] was one of my biggest that I played, Celtic v Rangers.

"It was a nice experience. I was happy to score at my first derby but disappointed that we didn't win."

Image source, SNS

Rangers boss Philippe Clement has no fresh injury concerns. John Souttar and Neraysho Kasanwirjo (knee) remain sidelined while Tom Lawrence is working his way back to fitness.

Dundee attacker Oluwaseun Adewumi is a doubt with an injury he sustained in the last match against Hearts while Ziyad Larkeche (hamstring), Scott Fraser (groin), Joe Shaughnessy (knee) and Clark Robertson (thigh) remain out.

Image source, SNS

Philippe Clement says "things are going in the right direction" at Rangers and claimed James Tavernier is in the best form of his time in charge.

Despite their agonising defeat to Celtic on penalties in last weekend's League Cup final, Clement believes his new signings, and more established players, are making solid progress after a disappointing start to the season.

"You see that the team is growing, you see it in everything," Clement said.

"The team are gelling together, we're getting more players available which is also a massive thing when playing every three days.

"So a lot of things are going in the right direction.

"I've been speaking about potential of players for a while and people need time to adapt to a club, a new way of playing and training.

"It's a good thing that fans start to see why I bought people they had doubts about. I'll use the example of Hamza [Igamane], why take a young boy out of Morocco who didn't have experience in Europe? People start to see why.

"It's not only the new guys and the young guys, the last weeks I've seen James Tavernier playing really well, probably the best I've seen him in our time together.

"So it's all team making steps and that's the road we need to continue on."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Rangers manager Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media before the Premiership match at home to Dundee on Saturday.

Here are the key points:

• Clement conceded that in the aftermath of Sunday's League Cup final defeat it "hurt really a lot for everybody in the club" because they felt "the rules of the game are not followed" and that this one was not a grey area decision.

• The Belgian welcomed the transparency shown by Scottish FA referees chief Willie Collum, who has admitted it was "unacceptable" that Rangers were not awarded a penalty for Liam Scales' foul on Vaclav Cerny.

• "We appreciate the honesty for sure," Clement said. "It doesn't help in the end but everybody in the club hopes he [Collum] is not alone in his fight to gets standards better."

• Clement said it was a pity all the focus has been on the penalty controversy given the intensity of the final with two good teams playing a good game and that he wants improvements for all of Scottish football, not just Rangers.

• He urged his players to look forward and "stop thinking about it" with an important three points available against Dundee, adding "you see a really big evolution the last couple of months".

• Oscar Cortes is available but will not start. There are no new injury worries and although there had been a flu bug around the building, Clement doesn't expect that to have an impact on selection.