5 things we learned from this weekend’s Scottish Premiership action

Rangers moved further clear in the Scottish Premiership after a 4-0 win over Ross County and Celtic slipped up again in a 1-1 home draw against St Johnstone.

There were wins for Livingston, Hibernian and Hamilton while St Mirren drew with Aberdeen.

Here are five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

James Tavernier’s numbers are up again

The Rangers right-back continues to chalk up goalscoring figures any striker would be happy with. He registered his 16th goal of the season against Ross County and needs only one more to match his career-best tally, which he set two seasons ago. Having also contributed 12 assists, the winner of September and November’s player of the month awards looks like the number one contender to sweep up the annual awards come May.

Hamilton have turned it around

Accies looked in serious trouble after conceding 17 goals in three games and then losing to Stranraer in the Betfred Cup. But a more defensive formation saw them steady the ship with a narrow defeat by Dundee United and draw with Aberdeen, and they moved up to 10th with a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, who had a man sent off for the fourth time this season.

Three-nil is not that unusual a scoreline

Hibernian head coach Jack Ross criticised the SPFL’s decision to punish St Mirren and Kilmarnock for Covid-19 breaches with 3-0 defeats in postponed games and also argued that the scoreline was unrealistic. He would not have been too concerned to see his team undermine that claim by netting three times without reply at Motherwell – one of the beneficiaries of the SPFL ruling.

David Martindale is pushing for the Livingston job

The club’s head of football operations publicly declared his desire to succeed Gary Holt before his side earned a 2-0 win over Dundee United, their first league victory since winning at Tannadice two months ago. Martindale had already begun his caretaker role with a 4-0 Betfred Cup win over Ayr.

Celtic’s title is slipping away

A 1-1 home draw with St Johnstone left the champions 13 points behind Rangers with two games in hand. Neil Lennon is clinging on to his job but another setback would mean a record 10th consecutive title is already out of Celtic’s hands.