Rangers boss Graeme Murty is keeping his fingers crossed Jamie Murphy has not suffered lasting damage after seeing the winger limp off against St Johnstone.

The on-form attacker sustained a foot injury after being caught by a late tackle by Perth midfielder Matty Willock during his side’s 4-1 McDiarmid win.

With leaders Celtic set to visit Ibrox a week on Sunday, Murty is now hoping his recent loan signing from Brighton makes a speedy recovery.

“There’s a few knocks and a few sore ones,” said the Gers manager after the Light Blues racked up five straight wins for the first time since March 2016.

“Obviously Jamie is the most obvious one. We’ll just assess those, particularly Jamie, and try to get them rested as we’ve got some big games coming up.

“Jamie was in a bit of pain as he came off. He’s a bit frustrated and a bit angry with some of the tackles he had.

“We have to assess his foot and then go from there.

“I don’t want to jinx anything by saying how bad it might be. We will assess it, we will try to be calm about it and we’ll make sure that he gets the requisite care.”

Rangers have grown in confidence in recent weeks and underlined that with another dominant first-half display.

James Tavernier tucked home an early penalty before Josh Windass finished off a slick team move.

Sean Goss put the visitors three-up just before the break with a free-kick, while top-scorer Alfredo Morelos grabbed his 17th goal of the season early in the second half.

Saints were allowed to pull one back with a Jason Kerr header but Gers eased to a victory which closes the gap on Celtic to six points.

However, Murty revealed his side came off the pitch disappointed after failing to punish Saints further.

“I had a little go at the players after the game,” said Murty. “I questioned whether they would have taken 4-1 before the game and they said yes so I asked what they were moaning about.

“They said the last half hour wasn’t good enough and they need to be better and that’s great for me to hear.

“But I told them we came and did the job we set out to do. Do you think we can get better? They said yes but I said to leave it there, not be too down, and move forward.

“We can improve on the things that weren’t right next time and if we have that mentality for the rest of the season then it bodes well for the direction of the club.”

St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright admitted his side had played a part in their own downfall.

He said: “We gifted the first two goals away. I could point the finger at two or three players for the first goal and the second one we didn’t press the ball well enough and we didn’t track the run. It’s basic defending.

“We just can’t gift goals away like we did tonight. It’s been our Achilles heel all season.”