Whittaker says Rangers' eyes are all on Inverness

Steven Whittaker insists there is no chance of Rangers being distracted by next week's Champions League game in Valencia and risk blowing their 100 per cent Premier League record when they face Inverness today.

Last week's Old Firm derby victory over Celtic means the Scottish champions are the only team who have won all their games in the SPL so far, and they will be bidding to extend that run to 10 matches.

Inverness, who have not lost on the road in the league for almost a year, will be hoping to succeed where all others have failed so far. The Highlanders' cause would be aided if they were to face a Rangers team with one eye on Tuesday's European outing, but Whittaker has ruled out such a scenario.

He said: "It's important that we concentrate on the game in hand and that means getting the three points on Saturday. We are coming off the back of a good result against Celtic so to slip up on Saturday would be criminal. We need to put that game to bed and then concentrate on Tuesday. There is still a job to be done in the league."

Inverness were the last team to beat Rangers in the SPL at Ibrox, in March 2009, and Whittaker is adamant Terry Butcher's men will not be underestimated this time around: "They've had some good results at the start of the season so we know we will need to be on top of our game and make sure we approach it in a professional manner."

Celtic's absent captain Scott Brown played down the three-point gap opened up by Rangers. The Scotland midfielder was ruled out for 10 weeks earlier in the month and will miss today's trip to St Johnstone. "They found out it was a broken bone," he said. "You can play with these injuries but it gets worse and worse."

On the title race following last week's Old Firm defeat, he added: "There are a lot of games to go until the end of the season. So hopefully we will make the points up by then."