St Johnstone 1 Rangers 2: Stand-in skipper Steven Davis believes Nikica Jelavic showed once again why Rangers must hold onto him beyond January after he grabbed a double in Saturday's 2-1 win over St Johnstone in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

The Croatian striker has been the subject of intense speculation over his future and has been linked with a number of Barclays Premier League clubs.

Manager Ally McCoist confirmed on Friday that Rangers have yet to receive any enquiries or bids this month for Jelavic before he returned to top form with a brace at McDiarmid Park.

Davis said: “The good thing about Jela is that he can score a mixture of goals and he got two poacher's goals in this game.

“There's been a lot written in terms of what he wants to do but he showed he's got a desire to still do well for Rangers so hopefully the club can keep hold of him.

“There has been a lot written in the press saying he wants to move on but he always works hard for the team and it was good to see him get his rewards again for the effort he puts in.”

Rangers have had a number of injury worries to deal with in recent weeks and were tested again in the clash with Saints, but Davis has been impressed by the fringe players who have helped fill the void.

“The good thing is that the manager tried to address it in the summer in terms of getting more quality players in throughout the squad,” he added.

“We are reaping the rewards of that now. We've had a few injuries and no-one who has come in over the space of the last number of weeks has let us down.”

Jelavic's opener was cancelled out by an own-goal from Carlos Bocanegra before the striker pounced again to claim the winner late on.

Saints boss Steve Lomas said: “I'm disappointed but the overall feeling is pride in my players for their performance.”