ALEX McLEISH is looking to bow out of the world of the Old Firm on Sunday with a rare away victory which can perpetuate his ambition of ending his tenure at Rangers with something tangible.

McLeish will take part in his 25th Glasgow derby and he would dearly love to do what he did in his first one and claim a win over the old enemy.

Quite simply, it is essential. Trailing Hearts by five points in the race for second place, Rangers can only hope that the Tynecastle men stumble somewhere while winning all of their own games.

Three away games in nine days - the first of which is at Parkhead - represents a tall order for the Light Blues but McLeish believes his players have it in themselves.

And he has called upon his front players in particular to provide the inspiration for what would be a remarkable turnaround.

Looking at the fixtures, you would say that the matches that Hearts could struggle in would be this Saturday's Edinburgh derby at Easter Road and the following week's home game with Celtic.

That said, it will only be worthwhile of Rangers win all of their matches.

It happened last year when no-one expected it with Celtic losing two of their last four matches - including the final fixture at Fir Park - and Rangers winning all of theirs to claim the title in dramatic fashion.

McLeish is looking for a little bit of history repeating, even if the prize is not quite as valuable.

He said: "We are in exactly the same situation as we were last season albeit the prize is not the championship this time round.

"It's the same scenario. We need something to happen elsewhere while winning all of our remaining matches. Let's hope that lightning strikes twice.

"The difficulty is that three of these matches are away from home and that brings its own pressure but we have to handle it.

"It would certainly be a bonus if Hibs were to win the Edinburgh derby on Saturday and I am sure it would give my players a real boost as they go into the Old Firm game on Sunday."

Much of the responsibility of securing a win will fall on the shoulders of Kris Boyd as he has scored 15 goals since joining from Kilmarnock in January.

However, McLeish is looking for a lot more from the other front men.

He said: "I feel as if the front players are capable of raising their game and bringing more to us in the coming games.

"We really need some inspiration from the strikers. Boyd has been scoring regularly but it would be nice to see Dado, Thomas and Burkey getting in on the act."

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