Rangers win away without Ferguson

Rangers won 1-0 at Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League yesterday but the match was eclipsed by the decision of manager Paul Le Guen to strip Barry Ferguson of the club captaincy and drop him.

A Kris Boyd penalty in the second half helped Rangers move into second with 39 points from 23 games after Aberdeen could only draw 0-0 at Hibernian.

Champions and clear leaders Celtic, who gave new signing Steven Pressley his debut, beat Kilmarnock 2-0 with a goal in each half from Darren O'Dea and Aiden McGeady.

Irish defender O'Dea cracked in a 12-metre shot from the right side of the box after a free-kick from Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura fell to him on 39 minutes. Substitute McGeady slotted home the second in the final minute.

Kilmarnock's misery was compounded by manager Jim Jefferies being sent to the stands for protesting a free-kick decision on 61 minutes.