Team news

Innes a final doubt for Buddies Defender Chris Innes is the only doubt for St Mirren ahead of the Co-operative Insurance Cup final against Rangers.

The 33-year-old tore an abductor muscle in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat at Ibrox on March 6 but stepped up his rehabilitation early in the week.

On-loan Rangers forward Rory Loy is unable to face his employers while Tom Brighton remains on the long-term absentee list.

St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson will forego any heartfelt speeches before the club's first cup final for 23 years as he knows his players fully appreciate the importance of the occasion.

MacPherson will simply urge his players to seize the moment when they take on Rangers.

A similar approach paid dividends in the semi-final at Fir Park when St Mirren quickly took control against Hearts and sealed their passage with a glorious curling effort from Billy Mehmet.

MacPherson is confident enough in the application and attitude of his players to let them steel themselves for the Hampden contest.

"There is very little you say to the players that close to a game," MacPherson said.

"There is criticism of players at all levels that they're daft, but they understand the importance of it.

"They will be focused on how they want to start the game, how they want to go about it and seize that opportunity. The experienced ones know they don't come around too often." Players such as John Potter and Jack Ross are preparing for their first major final in their 30s and know they may not get another chance.

MacPherson added: "Players, if they are worth anything at all, don't need motivation.

"The professionalism within a group or an individual should be enough to motivate any individual, especially when you're at this level of football and playing in cup finals.

"Even the semi-final was the perfect case, the players just went there and showed what they are capable of.

"When you play for a provincial club these opportunities don't come around too often - history tells you that at St Mirren, it's our first final in 23 years and only the second in 50 years.

"You've got to enjoy it, but the pride you have within yourself to compete in that arena, you have to thrive on it and show the courage on the day." Rangers defenders Madjid Bougherra and Kirk Broadfoot will miss the match.

Bougherra remains on the sidelines with a torn hamstring while Broadfoot has failed to overcome a similar problem in time.

But Rangers have no fresh injuries for the Hampden clash.

Walter Smith shunned all "arrogant" talk of a treble as Rangers prepared for Sunday's game.

With Rangers' lead over Celtic in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League stretched into double figures, and Raith Rovers lying in wait should they overcome Dundee United in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals, a domestic clean sweep is very much on the cards.

But, despite enjoying cup final appearances as a coach and manager stretching over 30 years, Smith insists there is no danger of him becoming blase about the occasions.

The Rangers manager will take the Hampden clash on its own merits and enjoy it without looking ahead to the bigger picture in May.

"When someone says you are going to go for trebles, there is an amount of arrogance in that statement," Smith said.

"There is an expectation that we get to these cup finals and are attempting to win these trophies.

"That's what I stress it is, it's an attempt to win.

"For me, it's not the first leg of a treble, it's a cup final.

"If we do win it, we'll be delighted for that reason and that reason alone." The 62-year-old added: "You always feel very fortunate going into cup finals.

"I've been lucky enough over my time to be involved in quite a number of them both at Dundee United and Rangers, and you still get the same feeling.

"It doesn't matter how often you go, you still get that great desire to win." There is more than fortune behind Smith's record in guiding Rangers to six cup finals in a two-year period.

"Our squad have shown that, since we came back, they have featured in every cup final in the last three years and that's a big thing," he said.

St Mirren vs Rangers

Last modified 17:32 21/03/10

Miller breaks Saints hearts Kenny Miller's late header gave nine-man Rangers a 1-0 victory over St Mirren in a dramatic Co-operative Insurance Cup final at Hampden.

The game exploded in the 53rd minute when Ibrox midfielder Kevin Thomson was deservedly sent off for a needless lunging tackle on his St Mirren namesake Steven Thomson.

Then teenage defender Danny Wilson was also red-carded for a last-man challenge on Buddies substitute Craig Dargo, leaving the Govan side two men short for the last 20 minutes.

But with seven minutes remaining, Scotland striker Miller rose in textbook fashion to head substitute Steven Naismith's cross past Paul Gallacher and complete the first part of a possible treble for Walter Smith's men.

Unbeaten in five previous games between the two sides this season, Rangers were overwhelming favourites going in to the game but they were made to work all the way by the Buddies.

Paisley boss Gus MacPherson had gone with the power of Billy Mehmet and Michael Higdon in attack and in the fifth minute, it was the former who escaped Ibrox captain David Weir down the left and drove into the box.

His left-footed cross from the byline spun off Wilson and over Alexander, leaving Sasa Papac to clear from under his bar.

Rangers had to rely on some timely interventions in defence to prevent beaverish St Mirren working their way into some dangerous situations.

However, the enthusiasm of Hugh Murray in his tackle on Lee McCulloch in the 18th minute earned the Paisley midfielder a booking from referee Craig Thomson.

Amid the huffing and puffing, Ibrox right-back Steven Whittaker tried his luck from 30 yards but his low drive was gathered comfortably by Saints keeper Paul Gallacher.

Miller had the best chance of the first half, though, in the 34th minute when he took a Whittaker pass and drifted in to the box with ease only to fire high over the bar.

As the first 45 minutes drew to an end St Mirren began to turn the screw.

Rangers keeper Neil Alexander took a Nacho Novo pass-back and was caught on the byline by on-rushing Jack Ross as he tried to cockily beat the St Mirren defender, the ball running past for a goal kick to the relief of the Rangers supporters.

However, the keeper made up for it in the 40th minute when, with the Light Blues defence in disarray, he blocked a goal-bound shot from Steven Thomson on the line.

Moments later, though, Alexander was well beaten by David Barron's long-range drive which clipped the crossbar on its way over.

When the interval whistle sounded, it was the Paisley side who trooped off cursing their inability, yet again this season, to turn possession into goals.

Steven Davis was replaced by Maurice Edu at the break as Rangers went to three at the back and that substitution and tactical change appeared to spark the Light Blues into a higher gear.

Kevin Thomson drove a left-footed shot wide within a couple of minutes after a Novo free-kick had been cleared to the edge of the box.

In the next few minutes both Miller and Papac had efforts which went high and wide but the Ibrox side now looked a different team.

However, their mood darkened when Thomson was shown a red card.

The decision looked reasonable but the game turned ugly in the subsequent minutes and amid the bitterness, Kris Boyd, anonymous for most of the game, headed a Novo free-kick over the bar.

Higdon fortuitously blocked a Miller shot in a goalmouth scramble as Rangers, fuelled by a sense of injustice, fought back.

Dargo replaced Billy Mehmet in the 70th minute and seconds later the St Mirren substitute was pulled back by Wilson in a 'last-man' situation at the edge of the box which earned the young Ibrox defender a red card, leaving Rangers down to nine men.

Boyd was replaced by Steven Naismith with 11 minutes remaining and in the 83rd minute, in a Rangers breakaway, the former Kilmarnock striker curled a pin-point cross on to the head of Miller who rose to glance his header past Gallacher.