"Bjorn Johnsen has done well for us coming off the bench. Conor Sammon has also done well for us too, but I have a good squad now and have made changes in areas where I think we can get at St Johnstone.  

"Sam Nicholson comes in and we will play with two wingers and try to get at their full-backs.

"For the first 75 minutes here, we played well in the League Cup but got done by the long ball.

"That is something we will have to deal with against St Johnstone."

"The performance we had at Partick, we've got to take into this game.

"We are able to freshen it up and hopefully that gives us a bit of impetus.

"It is going to be difficult against Hearts as they have had a good start to the season and I have been impressed by them, even when we beat them here in the League Cup.

"But we are always quietly confident."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland

Championship leaders Hibernian would beat a 70-year-old record with a win over Ayr United today at Easter Road. It would be the first time they have won their opening six matches in a league campaign. The current record is five in season 1946-47.

As mentioned earlier, this will be Ross County's first visit to Ibrox and it will complete the set for the Dingwall side.

Speaking to BBC Scotland on the eve of the new season, chairman Roy MacGregor said: "Ibrox is the only ground that we haven't been to, so that will be a nice experience in September.

"I think Scottish football has generally missed them and I think on that journey back from the Third Division to the Premier League I've been particularly encapsulated by their fan base.

"The financial value of the league will be stronger with Rangers back and we need to be in Scottish football wanting our better clubs to be better."  

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock entertain bottom-of-the-table Partick Thistle with both sides looking for a rare victory. The home side have not won in their last three outings, while the visitors have lost their last four.

However, despite their losing streak, Thistle arrive with a proud record of not having lost to Kilmarnock in any of their four meetings last season - two wins, both at Rugby Park, and two draws.

Indeed, the Glasgow side have not lost in their last three visits to the Ayrshire ground. Another win there and Thistle would leapfrog their hosts off the foot of the Premiership, while a draw would take them above Inverness on goal difference ahead of Caley Thistle's Sunday game against Celtic.

Neither Motherwell nor Hamilton Accies go into their Lanarkshire derby in the finest of fettle.

Mark McGhee's hosts have not won in their last five outings, while Accies have only won one of their last six. The sides sit eighth and ninth in the table, both having gathered five points from five games.

Ross County have never before graced the Ibrox turf with their presence. Indeed, this will be the first league meeting between the clubs.

They have, though, played three times previously in Dingwall - twice in the Scottish Cup and once in the League Cup - with Rangers winning all three, the most recent in 2001.

Both sides have failed to win their last two outings, with Rangers looking to bounce back from that 5-1 hammering by Celtic in the Glasgow derby a week ago.

Second-top Hearts arrive at McDiarmid Park eyeing top spot in the Premiership while looking to avoid a repeat of their 3-2 League Cup defeat there in August.

Indeed, the Edinburgh side have not won on their last five visits to Perth, with St Johnstone unbeaten in their last four meetings overall.  

Both sides are in good form, with Saints having got back to winning ways last weekend, beating Partick Thistle in Glasgow after suffering their first two defeats of the season, and Hearts unbeaten in their last four outings.

Should they record a fifth straight win, the Edinburgh side would move a point above leaders Celtic, who are visiting Inverness Caledonian Thistle tomorrow, while a victory for Saints would draw them level with the visitors.

St Johnstone: Clark, Anderson, Davidson, MacLean, Shaughnessy, Coulson, Paton, Foster, Easton, Craig, Cummins.

Substitutes: Mannus, Alston, Wotherspoon, Gormley, Kane, Thomson, Comrie.

Hearts: Hamilton, Paterson, Souttar, Rossi, Rherras, Nicholson, Cowie, Kitchen, Walker, Watt, Johnsen.

Substitutes: Noring, L.Smith, Ozturk, Buaben, Djoum, Sammon, Muirhead.

John Barnes
BBC Scotland at Rugby Park

The artificial pitch should be nice and slick this afternoon...

Rangers: Foderingham: Tavernier, Wilson, Hill, Wallace, Halliday, Holt, Windass, Waghorn, Garner, McKay.

Substitutes: Gilks, Miller, Forrester, Hodson, Kranjcar, Crooks, O'Halloran.

Ross County: Fox, Routis, Davies, Schalk, van der Veg, Franks, Quinn, Curran, M.Woods, Gardyne, Fraser.

Substitutes: McCarey, Dingwall, Chow, Cikos, McShane, Morrison.

Kilmarnock: MacDonald, Hendrie, Burn, S.Boyd, S.Smith, Frizzell, Hawkshaw, Dicker, McKenzie, K.Boyd, Coulibaly.

Substitutes: Mackay, Boyle, Tyson, M.Smith, Morrison, Jones, I.Wilson.

Partick Thistle: Scully, Booth, Lindsay, Osman, Amoo, Doolan, Erskine, Lawless, Devine, Edwards, Gordon.

Substitutes: Stuckmann, Welsh, Barton, Elliott, Azeez, Wilson, McDaid.

"A poison within the game". Strong words from former Aberdeen captain and manager Willie Miller on Sportsound.

He's talking about social media but that doesn't deter me from seeking your thoughts today.

Get in touch via Twitter using #bbcsportscot as the action unfolds. You can also text in using 80295

Leaders Hibernian are aiming for a sixth consecutive victory, with Ayr United the visitors at Easter Road. If Neil Lennon's men prevail, it would mark the Leith team's best opening to a season.

Queen of the South are the only other unbeaten side in the division and they welcome Raith Rovers to Palmerston, with the third-placed Kirkcaldy outfit just three points behind.

Morton host Dunfermline, with both teams looking to improve on the three points they have gathered over five games and St Mirren travel to Dumbarton aiming to move off the foot of the table.

BBC Alba is showing Falkirk v Dundee United at 17:15 and you can watch that via the iPlayer and BBC Sport website while brushing up on your Gaelic.

Image source, SNS

Motherwell: Samson, Tait, Hammell, Heneghan, McManus, Moult, Bowman, Cadden, Lasley, Clay, McDonald.

Substitutes: Brill, Ainsworth, Lucas, Thomas, McFadden, Ferguson, MacLean.

Hamilton Academical: Matthews, Devlin, Gillespie, Imrie, Crawford, Longridge, MacKinnon, Brophy, Donati, Lyon, Sarris.

Substitutes: Docherty, D'Acol, Redmond, Kurtaj, Bingham, Want, Thomson.

Hearts give American striker Bjorn Johnsen, their summer signing from Litex Lovech, his first start in place of Conor Sammon up front, while Sam Nicholson comes in for Arnaud Djoum in midfield against St Johnstone.

Image source, SNS

Andy Halliday - the other half of that now infamous training ground altercation with Joey Barton - starts today, having been a sub in the last couple of weeks.

Jason Holt also returns to the Rangers midfield and Martyn Waghorn is restored to the attack.

All the team news to follow soon...

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock's Souleymane Coulibaly scored one of the goals of last weekend with an overhead kick in the 1-1 draw with Dundee.

Here's hoping we get a few more today.

Meanwhile, here are a few more Scottish top-flight overhead kicks from yesteryear...

Never mind all the Joey Barton nonsense. The major development of the weekend is at Rugby Park.

Kilmarnock announced a change in pie supplier last night, causing much spluttering on social media.

Those following the "pie wars" story will know it's all gone a bit murky with legal threats over naming rights.

I trust our reporter John Barnes will be providing us with an update on the new savoury pastries...

Will Dave Mackay get to say goodbye to the fans today or has he ridden off silently into the sunset?

The St Johnstone captain, who has been battling a hip injury, announced his retirement from playing this week.

The defender was the first Saints skipper to lift the Scottish Cup in 2014...