Madjid Bougherra is happy to be on glory trail, insists Weir

But the veteran centre-half is equally unsurprised that the Algerian has remained at Ibrox beyond the January transfer window despite the constant speculation over his future.

Bougherra has most recently been linked with Barcelona and Sevilla, with his performances at the African Nations Cup having reportedly caught the eye of the Spanish giants.

But Weir believes the chance to win silverware – Rangers remain in the hunt for a domestic treble this season – is as good a reason as any for him to stay in Glasgow.

The 38-year-old rekindled his partnership with Bougherra in the heart of defence for the first time since the latter's return from Angola as Rangers earned a 1-1 draw at Motherwell in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League on Wednesday.

"I'm not really surprised he is still here but Madjid is a top player so I'm sure clubs will be interested in him as clubs are always interested in good players," he said.

"But I think Madjid has stated he is happy here and it's a good place to play football. He has a chance of winning trophies and that's a big incentive for him to stay."

Another player who has been the subject of much speculation is Kris Boyd, who netted the equaliser at Fir Park on his first start since recovering from a double hernia operation.

The strike took his tally for the season to 20 goals so far and Weir reckons he still has a major part to play in the title race.

Rangers appeared resigned to their second SPL defeat of the season when Tom Hateley – son of former Ibrox hero Mark – netted from a terrific free-kick but Boyd had the final say with ten minutes to go. "That's what Kris does," said Weir. "He has just come back from his hernia operation and had about 20 minutes at the weekend and he has played again last night and scored a goal.

"That's what he does and he will continue to do that. He has done it all his career. If you get Kris on the pitch and in the box, there is no doubt he is going to score goals. That's going to be a big benefit to us for the rest of the season."

Celtic's win against Hearts allowed them to reduce the deficit to eight points and Weir insisted: "I don't think anybody has ever said it's over. There will be twists and turns. There will be points dropped by everybody in the league and I don't think we'll be any different.

"We judge ourselves against ourselves and where we are. We look at the level of performances and the level of application.

"On Wednesday night we had a slow start and, until they scored, they were the better team. After they scored, I thought we were the dominant team. We didn't lose the game and that's the main thing. Motherwell made it really difficult for us and you have to give them credit.