Scottish Round-up:Walter Smith insists confidence is sky-high at Rangers ahead of next week's Old Firm derby after slashing Celtic's lead at the summit of the Premier League to a single point with a 1-0 victory over Hibernian at Ibrox.
Kris Boyd grabbed the only goal of today's game to reduce the deficit ahead of the Scottish champions' trip to Falkirk tomorrow.
The win was the ideal boost ahead of next Saturday's highly anticipated lunchtime clash at Ibrox, which could play a role in the eventual outcome of the title race this season.
But, despite dropping points in recent matches, Smith claims his Rangers side would have been more than ready to face their arch rivals regardless of the outcome of the visit of Hibs.
"I think we are confident enough," he said. "We are at home and we have been playing very well.
"We hope that everyone is fit and well — and it looks as though they are — so we are looking forward to the game next week after getting through what I thought was a very tough match."
Republic of Ireland underage star James McCarthy scored a goal in each half as Hamilton triumphed in the Lanarkshire derby.
The Scottish-born teenager drilled home the opener a minute before half-time, after the hosts had lost first-choice goalkeeper Tomas Cerny to injury following a collision with Chris Porter.
McCarthy doubled his side's lead shortly after the hour mark with an eight-yard strike, securing the three points which allowed Accies to draw level with their arch-rivals at the bottom of the table.
Hamilton captain Alex Neil hailed man-of-the-match McCarthy as the difference between the two struggling sides.
"Two bits of quality from the wee man again and we took the three points. If it wasn't for James playing, we probably wouldn't have won the game," said Neil
The highly-rated McCarthy, who only recently turned 18, played down his own contribution: "It was brilliant, great team effort. It's great but it was a great team performance, everybody was great."
Hearts and Dundee United cancelled each other out in a full blooded battle for third-place supremacy.
The frenetic action swung from end to end throughout, with home winger Andrew Driver and United's top scorer Jon Daly passing up the best opportunities for their sides.
Andy Dorman's first-half strike against Kilmarnock gave St Mirren their first win at Rugby Park since 1992.
In the 38th minute of a turgid encounter, Dennis Wyness opened up the home defence with a clever pass, giving Dorman the chance to drive low past Killie keeper Alan Combe.
Aberdeen maintained their unbeaten record at the Caledonian Stadium with a comfortable 3-0 win over lacklustre Inverness.
Caley were a goal down after six minutes when Charlie Mulgrew curled in an exquisite free-kick from 30 yards.
Gary McDonald latched onto a careless clearance from Dougie Imrie to drill home a second before Darren Mackie chipped Ryan Esson to wrap up all three points for the Dons.
