Lindsay Herron reporting from Ibrox.

RANGERS made it a dozen SPL wins in a row to set themselves up perfectly for next Saturday's Old Firm showdown.

It was not a vintage performance but Rangers had more than enough in their locker to see off Hibs who barely posed a threat.

The Easter Road strikeforce of Steven Fletcher and Colin Nish came into the game on the back of good press but neither of them got a sniff.;

Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo showed them the way with two good strikes which deservedly gave Rangers the win which gives them the advantage they wanted going into the Celtic game.

Dean Shiels did score for Hibs with two minutes remaining, but it was little more than a consolation.

Having under-performed against Partick Thistle during the week, it was no surprise that Walter Smith shook up the side.

Barry Ferguson, Davie Weir, Sasa Papac, Lee McCulloch and Jean-Claude Darcheville all returned with Kris Boyd, Nacho Novo, Stevie Naismith and Steven Whittaker all moved to the bench and Chris Burke and Charlie Adam left out completely.

The other aspect is that Rangers have so many matches coming up that the manager simply has to freshen things up.

With a bitingly cold wind sweeping across Ibrox there was little to warm the fans on the field in the early stages other than a long range effort from Papac in 17 minutes which flew a couple of feet over the bar.

Rangers had most of the play and forced a series of corners but did little with any of them, usually failing to clear the first defender.

Ferguson, Thomson and Davis were busy enough but there was no end product to their endeavour as Rob Jones marshalled his defence.

The game was crying out for a spark and it was Papac and Darcheville who provided it six minutes before half time.

The Bosnian defender produced a tremendous pass inside full back Martin Canning and suddenly everything opened up for Darcheville on the left side of the Hibs box.

He burst forward and hammered a right foot shot past Ma Kalamby to claim his 11^th of the season.

It was the one piece of real quality in the first half and the jubilant scenes on the Rangers bench said it all.

Darche might have settled the contest seven minutes into the second half when he was sent racing clear by a terrific Davis pass which caught the Hibs defenders on their heels.

He had time to take a touch and measure his shot but Ma Kalamby made a terrific block as Darcheville tried to beat him to his right.

There was a better fluency to Rangers' play in the early moments of the second half and the won a free kick in a terrific area in 56 minutes after a good spell of possession when McCulloch was fouled by Jones.

It was McCulloch who had a go from a central position 22 yards out but the wall did its job and blocked his effort.

Darcheville made way for Nacho Novo in 66 minutes as Smith tried to freshen things up front to get the second goal that would seal the game.

However, it was Hibs who came close in 72 minutes when substitute Shiels found some space 25 yards out after Papac had partially cleared and hit a low left foot shot but Allan McGregor saw it all the way and saved comfortably.

Six minutes later, though, the Novo switch paid off in spades when he did find the crucial second goal which made the game and the points safe.

Like all good strikers, the little Spaniard was alert when Chris Hogg made a poor effort of clearing Davis's ball into the box, wheeled onto his right foot and slammed a low shot past Ma Kalamby.

That was job done although Ulsterman Shiels made the last few moments a little more tense than they might have been when he scored in 88 minutes.

He stunned McGregor with a lob which struck the bar and then he followed up to slam home the rebound.

Thankfully it mattered little and Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" blasted out of the PA system as the final whistle sounded.