Rangers not likely to lose their way in final straight

LOGIC refuses to give credence to the notion that Celtic can still win the Premier Division championship

LOGIC refuses to give credence to the notion that Celtic can still win the Premier Division championship. An examination of the circumstances necessary to bring about such an eventuality reveals the extreme unlikelihood. Rangers, having scooted to a 3-0 victory at Dunfermline, now hold a seven point lead over their great rivals with just 10 matches remaining.

The Ibrox side, therefore, would, at minimum, have to lose two matches and draw another - and Celtic would have to win all of theirs - to be denied a ninth successive title. This is a team who have experienced defeat just twice in their previous 26 outings. How can they reasonably be expected to sustain similar damage in the 10 that remain?

The principals have yet to play each other once more, at Celtic Park next month, and those Parkhead fans urgently in need of some hope will certainly regard that meeting as potentially rewarding. Since Rangers have won all three previous Old Firm matches in the current campaign, this is more of a quixotic fancy than a rationale based on sound form lines.

Celtic, indeed, generally seem more vulnerable - or at least less reliable - than the leaders. Their defeats at Motherwell and Dundee United in the last few weeks, in tandem with some unconvincing victories against lesser opposition, suggest that they are more likely to drop points in the run in than Rangers.

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Walter Smith's team, even without Gascoigne, took care of Dunfermline without a sign of unsteadiness. The goals which Gordon Durie, Jorg Albertz and Brian Laudrup scored were all brilliantly executed, while there was rarely any likelihood of their conceding anything in defence.

It was simply another routine exercise in the programme which will take Rangers to another championship. Elsewhere, Dundee United ended an eight match winning run with a scoreless draw at home to Hibernian.