Saints fear influential midfielder Davidson has played his last game of the year

St Johnstone are set to be without Murray Davidson for the rest of the year after the influential midfielder suffered an ankle injury in midweek.

Davidson was wearing a protective boot on the eve of Saints’ trip to face Rangers after going off early in Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to Aberdeen. He now looks likely to miss four gamesbeforethewinterbreak.

“Murray is going to be out for three or four weeks,” manager Tommy Wright said. “He hurt his ankle in a challenge. I say three or four weeks but you never know with Murray, he could be back quicker than that. He always likes to try and prove the medical team wrong. It’s disappointing, he is a big presence in both boxes for us so he’ll be a miss.”

The form book suggests today could be tough for the Perth side as Rangers look to claim a fifth consecutive victory under caretaker manager Graeme Murty. But Wright’s side are no stranger to upsets and the Northern Irishman is determined to make life difficult for the hosts at Ibrox.

“You could say results are indicating those players are starting to hit form now,” he said. “But it’s never easy going there, they tend to keep the ball well, which makes it a difficult afternoon for you.

“But we believe we can give a good account of ourselves. Listen, I always believe we can win the next game and the players always believe that. While we respect their form, we are not going there with any fear. We will go there and try and play how we have done on occasions this year, which has been really good.”