Injuries hit Celtic hard

Celtic head coach Wim Jansen is facing up to an injury crisis ahead of the Old Firm game with Rangers on Friday. Jansen is well aware of the importance of the match as Celtic lie four points adrift of their Glasgow rivals following the 1-0 defeat by St Johnstone. Rangers have 42, Hearts 40 and Celtic 38.

Celtic's Alan Stubbs limped off with a groin strain in the St Johnstone match while Marc Rieper (calf), Stephane Mahe (thigh) and Henrik Larsson (hamstring) were all sidelined through injury.

Jansen admitted: "I am just not sure how many of these players - if any - will be fit for Friday."

But the Celtic boss warned: "Everyone understands that we cannot play the same way against Rangers as we did at Perth.

"We did not play as a team and too many players did not play to their standard."

George O'Boyle's goal gave St Johnstone only their second win in eight games and manager Paul Sturrock said: "It was an exceptional performance out there. We kept our shape and organisation very well."

Rangers striker Marco Negri scored twice, including his 30th goal in 19 league games, to seal a 4-1 victory over Dundee United on Saturday. Rangers played poorly for 40 minutes and fell behind to a 28th-minute goal by Swedish striker Kjell Olofsson.

But shortly before half-time Dane Brian Laudrup scored for Rangers from a free-kick and, 60 seconds later, crossed for Alex Cleland to head home.

Dundee United have beaten Rangers twice this season but Negri's first goal in the 82nd minute snuffed out their last hopes.

The Italian scored a penalty in the final seconds to become the quickest player to reach 30 goals in Scotland since the 1933-34 season.

Hearts moved into second spot thanks to a fine 3-1 victory at Dunfermline that delighted manager Jim Jefferies.

He said: "I thought we were brilliant and played some great stuff, especially in the first half.

"We have performed well against teams outside the Old Firm and it was important to keep that going, especially with Celtic slipping up.

"I've heard people saying our bubble has burst but we bounced right back and it really was an excellent result for us."

Aberdeen manager Alex Miller, who saw his side climb off the bottom with a 3-0 triumph over Motherwell, admitted: "That's a huge weight off the team. It was a good result for us and this will help the players' confidence."