Rangers set up a tense finale to the SPL season with a 3-0 win at St Mirren to join Celtic on 86 points with just one game remaining.

However, Celtic will take a daunting four-goal advantage into the final round of matches on Thursday, Rangers having lost control of their own destiny with a draw at Motherwell on Saturday.

Rangers looked tired during spells of their 66th game of an epic season, but a brace from Jean Claude Darcheville and another from Kris Boyd were enough to earn the win at Love Street.

Rangers, sent out with an attacking formation by boss Walter Smith, got just the start they wanted when Boyd opened the scoring in just the fourth minute.

Steven Davis collected his own half-cleared corner before clipping a cross to the back post, where former St Mirren skipper Kirk Broadfoot volleyed first-time across the face of goal to Boyd, who slid in from close-range.

French striker Darcheville got the second on 24 minutes when Stephen O'Donnell accidentally stood on the ball and gifted possession to Darcheville 20 yards out, who had plenty of time to tee up a low, right footed shot which left goalkeeper Mark Howard with little chance.

The match erupted when Thomson booted the ball into the prostrate Hugh Murray, sparking a melee involving both sets of players which saw those two, Mehmet and Steven Whittaker go into referee Craig Thomson's book.

Rangers could have added to their lead further a minute from the interval. Boyd headed a Davis cross into the air and the ball broke to Darcheville, whose overhead kick flicked off the outside of the far post.

Nacho Novo had two chances to get a decisive third for the visitors at the start of the second half, his first headed over for a corner by John Potter, his second sliced a couple of yards wide from a similar position just inside the box.

Billy Mehmet almost pulled a goal back on 66 minutes when he intelligently pulled off his marker to meet a free-kick pumped into the box, but his header bounced just a foot wide of the post.

But Rangers grabbed a decisive third to kill off the game a couple of minutes later when Barry Ferguson burst through a challenge before feeding a perfectly-weighted pass into the run of Darcheville, who finished calmly under Howard.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport