Miller, Papac and Davis to return for Rangers

Published on Tuesday 2 December 2008 11:11

RANGERS manager Walter Smith has received a triple boost ahead of this weekend's Clydesdale Bank Premier League game against Hamilton.

Kenny Miller, Sasa Papac and Steven Davis are all set to return for the visit of Accies after sitting out recent matches.

Miller has been out of action since the 2-1 win over St Mirren last month with a calf injury and Rangers have struggled to kill teams off in his absence.

"I think he will be fit to play this weekend," said Smith.

"It looks as though the calf injury will eventually clear and he will maybe be able to start training in the middle of this week.

"He had been playing well for us but we have to cover for the loss of players. We feel we have a big enough squad to do so, and we didn't do so.

"When that happens, we can only look at what happens during the games."

Papac has also been sidelined through injury, while Davis missed last week's defeat at Hearts and the win over Aberdeen because of family reasons.

Smith added: "They will be back. I just felt that going to Tynecastle, with Sasa being out for two games and the type of game it was going to be, it would have been a difficult one to come back into.

"But he will be back at the weekend and Steven Davis will be back as well."

Smith admits a far improved performance will be needed against Hamilton after the 2-1 reverse at Tynecastle saw Rangers fall seven points adrift of Celtic.

He told Rangers World: "It was a disappointment for us. We didn't start the game well at Tynecastle.

"It was very similar to the game we had there at the start of last season. That should have been warning enough for everybody who was here.

"But we didn't start well and gave away two goals from set plays and we ended up putting ourselves under pressure by giving away fouls easily.

"That allowed Hearts to get the ball into dangerous areas, not just at the goals, but on another four or five occasions afterwards as well.

"We gave away cheap fouls and, in the end, we paid for that.

"Even after an hour of the match when we controlled the game and Hearts were pinned back in their own half, we didn't really create a worthwhile opportunity in that period.

"It was a disappointing performance on a couple of levels."