Rangers boss Walter Smith has hailed the impact Nikica Jelavic has made since returning from injury.
Gers boss hails the form of Croatian hit-man
Rangers boss Walter Smith has hailed the impact Nikica Jelavic has made since returning from injury.
The Croatian striker grabbed his 17th goal of the season against Hearts on Saturday, helping to ease the Gers to a 4-0 win.
That return is impressive enough without taking into account the fact that he has missed the best part of four months of the season with ankle ligament damage.
His value to the Gers cause is not lost on his boss, with Smith delighted to see the summer arrival from Rapid Vienna filling the goalscoring void created by Kenny Miller's mid-season departure to Bursaspor.
"He is a good player and we were obviously disappointed to lose him when we did," Smith said.
"We lost him, we lost Kenny Miller and Kyle Lafferty was injured, so that was a difficult period to overcome. There were difficult parts of the season for us.
"But Jelavic is back now and he is showing us a really good level of play, as well as being able to get a finish as well."
Victory over Hearts allowed Rangers to strengthen their grip on top spot in the SPL table and ease some of the nerves which have begun to circulate around Ibrox.
Defender Sasa Papac said after the weekend win: ""It was a good game for us. We had a good performance and all the team played well.
"There was a little bit of nervousness because it's the end of the season now and there are only two more games left.
"Everybody has the pressure because we are fighting for a title. But, after the first minute when you go on to the pitch, everything is fine."
