Rangers' rich future

Scottish football

The future for Scotland's dominant club side, Rangers, now looks even brighter after Ibrox shareholders gave their approval to a pounds 40m investment by the Bahamas-based businessman Joe Lewis.

A big increase in the champions' spending power is, however, something their manager, Walter Smith will have to grapple with in the future, rather than the present. His priority now is tomorrow's home Premier Division encounter with Hibernian.

"We must be firmly focused on winning as we enter a vital stage in our aspirations to retain the championship again," Smith said. He will have his central defender Alan McLaren back after a calf strain, but Paul Gascoigne and Sebastian Rozental are again ruled out by ankle and knee ligament injuries respectively.

Enrico Annoni will be displaying his footballing talents in the unfamiliar surroundings of Lanarkshire after his cut-price move from Roma to Celtic, who take on Motherwell today. The defender has been given international clearance to make his debut for his new club, who are eager to cut Rangers' lead at the top of the table to just four points.

The Hearts striker, John Robertson, faces Raith Rovers at Tynecastle still seeking the one goal which will equal the club's long-standing Scottish League scoring record of 205 goals, held by the 1950s stalwart Jimmy Wardhaugh.