Boyd cool on Rangers' title bid despite closing gap

(PA)

Kris Boyd claims Celtic are still favourites for the SPL title despite Rangers slashing their advantage at the summit to a single point.

The race was blown wide open on Saturday when the champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Hearts in the before Rangers responded in style with a 3-1 win over Motherwell. With the final Old Firm derby set to take place at Ibrox, Rangers know they now have a real chance of ending Celtic's quest for a fourth successive title.

But Boyd was keen to play down their chances, insisting: "Celtic are favourites and we will hang on to them for as long as we can. We have to keep going about our business the way we did against Motherwell and hopefully it will be good enough at the end. We knew [Celtic] had dropped the points but there is still a pressure to win every time you go out on that park."

Gordon Strachan, the Celtic manager, reflected on the difficulties posed by a "frantic" trip to Tynecastle after declaring himself reasonably satisfied with their 1-1 draw. The leaders enjoyed a flying start when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink volleyed home after just 26 seconds, but Hearts responded strongly and levelled through Bruno Aguiar's 30-yard free-kick.

"It's very hard when the ball is going up to strikers and falling down and you have got to try to bring the ball down and create a counter-attack," Strachan said. "I'm not complaining about the way they play football, but there's a contrast in styles."

The point took Hearts another step closer to their third-place target and they are full of confidence, according to the midfielder Michael Stewart. "We now believe we're capable of taking on the top teams, giving a good show of ourselves, and more often than not we can pick up three points," he said.