RANGERS boss Walter Smith feels the comfortable win over Hibs has given his players a timely lift ahead of this week's Old Firm showdown. Hemdani happy with form guide BRAHIM HEMDANI reckons Rangers are in perfect shape going into the Old Firm game on Wednesday.

The midfielder produced a masterclass in the 2-1 weekend win at Hibs, a performance he described as the best of the season from Walter Smith's side.

And Hemdani hopes that the confidence taken from the way the Light Blues despatched Hibs has set them up nicely for the short trip across Glasgow.

"That was as well as we have played all season and it sets the team up nicely for Celtic," said the French-Algerian star.

"Hibs are never an easy team to beat. But we controlled the game and made many chances. We should have been three or four goals ahead and 2-1 was not the way the game went.

"Of course it's another massive game at Celtic and we are looking forward to it now. These matches are always imporant in terms of the league championship and we want to go there and win."

There has been much speculation about Hemdani's future at Rangers, with Saturday just his fifth SPL start of the season. Several Premiership sides have expressed an interest in him, but the player insists he is happy at Ibrox.

"I was happy to be back in the team at the weekend and I am happy here, nothing has changed," he said.

Gers boss Smith still has big doubts over Lee McCulloch and Charlie Adam for the Old Firm game.

The duo will be given every chance of being ready, but Smith certainly has a selection dilema after the performances of Chris Burke and Steven Naismith in Edinburgh.

On the transfer front, reports in Italy claim that Rangers are interested in Napoli midfielder Sam Dalla Bonna.

The former Chelsea player looks on his way out of the club and his agent Claudio Pasqualin said: "There has been an interest in Sam from Rangers."

Hibs defender David Murphy is also still on the radar as Smith hunts for a left back.

The Gers, who had been unconvincing against Motherwell at Ibrox on Boxing Day despite winning 3-1, cruised to a 2-1 victory at Easter Road on Saturday.

Several top team stars showed they are hitting top form ahead of the clash with their age-old city rivals Celtic at Parkhead on Wednesday.

And Smith reckons picking up all three points in what was a potentially difficult away fixture will be crucial to the Gers' chances of success.

Smith said: "Credit to the boys, I thought they played exceptionally well against Hibs. It's not an easy place to go and after a good first half we managed to have the majority of the possession in the second half.

"It was a good performance overall, just spoiled a little bit by the last few minutes. Right until the last few minutes it was comfortable. In the second half of the game we maybe got a little bit too comfortable.

"But it does give us a lot of confidence. Having been away to Aberdeen, away to Hibs and now away to Celtic it's been a difficult situation.

"We've been able to get seven points from nine so far, but we'll have to keep working and hope we can turn in a good performance at Celtic Park."

Chris Burke, who set up both of his side's goals, and Alan Hutton were both outstanding on the right flank against Hibs on Saturday.

And Smith is hopeful that pair can carry on where they left off in a game which will send his side a point clear at the top of the SPL if they win. Smith agreed: "Alan has been playing consistently well for us all season and now that Chris is in I think they can go on and form a good partnership."

The Gers' commanding performance in Edinburgh at the weekend showed many key players are getting back to their best just at the right time.

This was a game that the Glasgow giants controlled virtually from the kick-off to the final whistle. The margin of victory could and should have been far greater.

As Smith says, Rangers will head across the city to Parkhead this week positive they can record their fourth consecutive victory over their ancient rivals and move a giant step closer to reclaiming the Scottish crown.

If they triumph and edge a point clear of Celtic, they will still have two games in hand against the league's bottom two teams, St Mirren and Gretna.

Win those, and they will open up a seven-point gap at the top of the league that will prove extremely difficult for Gordon Strachan's men to claw back.

THEY are certainly in the sort of form to do that in the coming weeks. A Stevie Naismith strike, only his second since joining his boyhood heroes in the summer, in 12 minutes killed off the Hibs game as a contest.

A powerful run into the Hibs penalty box from Chris Burke was followed by a perfectly timed pass and Naismith was well-positioned to fire home from close-range.There were appeals for offside from the stands, but television evidence later proved that referee Charlie Richmond was correct to let the goal stand.

Despite dominating the game for long spells after that, it took until the 59th minute for the visitors to finally put the result beyond any doubt. Oh la la . . . Gers maverick French ace Daniel Cousin gets to grips with Hibs giant skipper Rob Jones although the Ibrox man would get the last laugh Chris Burke, in from the start for the second game in a row, showed plenty of hunger for battle, typified by this tussle with Lewis Stevenson No way through this time for Alan Hutton as the Rangers full back finds his path blocked by a posse of Hibs defenders Already one up thanks to a Naismith goal, Cousin then put the home side further ahead with this thunderous 59th-minute shot

Burke teed up Daniel Cousin and the big French striker unleashed a ferocious 20-yard volley that left Hibs keeper Yvea Ma-Kalambay with no chance.

Cousin, who is being widely tipped to move on in the January transfer window, looked far more like the player he was when he first arrived in Scotland earlier in the season and will be a definite goal threat against Celtic.

And Burke, who had been frozen out by Smith this season, is growing in belief with every game he plays. The blonde-haired winger, though, would be well advised to cut the ludicrous diving out of his game.

A late strike by substitute Merouane Zemmama gave the scoreline an air of respectability that Hibs did not deserve for their lacklustre performance.

Kevin Thomson was denied the chance to sew up the three points by a ridiculous piece of refereeing by Richmond in the final minute.

The whistler, who had enjoyed a good game up until that point, halted play to book Thierry Gatheussi for a foul when Thomson was advancing towards goal.