We have the strikers to topple Gers, says Loovens

Celtic defender Glenn Loovens has disputed Kenny Miller's assertion that Rangers' superior "firepower" will see the Ibrox side retain their Premier League title.

Rangers have a 10-point advantage over Celtic with a superior goal difference of 20 ahead of their game against Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow night.

Miller, a former Celtic striker, is set to resume his 33-goal partnership with Kris Boyd after both players returned from injury after the goalless draw against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

Celtic boss Tony Mowbray has yet to identify his preferred strike force after bringing in Robbie Keane, Morten Rasmussen and Diomansy Kamara in the January transfer window to augment the presence of Marc-Antoine Fortuné and Georgios Samaras.

Miller claimed that the Rangers squad contained "enough firepower to go and win this league," but ahead of the visit of Hearts, Loovens, encouraged by the fact that all three new boys scored in the 4-2 cup win against Dunfermline at East End Park, had his say.

"I don't agree with that," he said. "We have some great strikers. If you have seen our recent games then you will have seen the chances we have created. It's just for us to wait for that one game where it all clicks and they will all go in.

"There are still 15 or 16 games so there are plenty of points to play for. We have to play Rangers twice so we will see. But we need to make sure we get a run going and don't drop any more points."

Rasmussen has already scored twice since his move from Brondby and while Loovens would not compare the Danish international with Boyd, he believes Tony Mowbray has added the last piece to his forwards jigsaw.

"I don't want to compare him with anyone," Loovens said. "All he needs is to score goals and so far he has done that. Rasmussen is a different type of player, he is a big strong guy, who has a nose for goals. He is always in the penalty box where you need to be to score.

"We don't score many scrappy goals but we scored one on Sunday [at Dunfermline]. He has a feeling for that and it is a quality that we have lacked."

Mowbray is relaxed about the prospect of the 10-point gap remaining by the time the Old Firm meet again at the end of February. "It's not a concern at all," he said. "We could win every game up to then and the lead might not be cut. We have just got to try and win our football matches. We can't affect what other teams do until we play them so at this moment we have to look after ourselves and try to get the points."