The Ibrox side fell behind to Graham Carey's opener on the half-hour mark but Lee McCulloch equalised two minutes later and the Scotland international gave his side the lead after less than a minute of the second half.

Nacho Novo scored the third for the home side after 78 minutes to ensure the Gers retained their comfortable lead over Celtic, who play Falkirk tomorrow.

Motherwell are just six points behind the Parkhead outfit after their exceptional run under Craig Brown continued with a 2-1 win at St Johnstone.

Scotland Under-21 striker Jamie Murphy continued his recent fine form when he put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute.

St Johnstone equalised from close range in the 26th minute but John Sutton bundled home the winner with five minutes left after home keeper Graeme Smith spilled substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz's shot.

Third-placed Hibernian ended their five-match winless run by beating Kilmarnock 1-0 at Easter Road.

Derek Riordan scored the only goal of the game with a 76th-minute free-kick.

Zander Diamond netted a 76th-minute equaliser for Aberdeen as they secured a 1-1 draw at Hamilton, who had taken the lead in the 62nd minute through Flavio Paixao.