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James Tavernier marked his 400th Rangers appearance with his 101st goal as Hibernian suffered a near killer blow to their hopes of finishing third in the Scottish Premiership by losing 3-1 to Rangers.

 

The right-back's first-ever goal for the Ibrox club came in his debut - on the same ground and also from a free-kick - in a 6-2 Challenge Cup victory in July 2015.

Ryan Kent, Allan McGregor, Alfredo Morelos, Scott Arfield and Filip Helander will all leave Rangers when their contracts expire this summer.

 

But Steven Davis, who will also be out of contract, remains in discussions with the club about his future.

 

Boss Michael Beale said the midfielder will decide if he will keep playing when he recovers from his ACL injury.

 

Scotland midfielder Ryan Jack's deal also expired this summer but he signed a one-year extension last week.

Hearts held on for a draw with Hibernian to seal a European Conference League qualifying place and leave Hibs' European fate in Celtic's hands.

 

Two points clear in fourth beforehand, Hearts led through Yutaro Oda's first goal for the club but the flow of the match turned on an Alex Cochrane foul on Chris Cadden.

 

Cochrane was initially booked and a penalty given, but the Hearts full-back was sent off and a free-kick awarded following a VAR review. Kevin Nisbet scored straight from the set-piece.

 

Hibs pressed hard for a winner, but finishing fifth means they are reliant on Celtic beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle in next week's Scottish Cup final to reach the Conference League qualifiers.

Steven MacLean has been named St Johnstone manager on a permanent basis, signing a three-year contract.

 

The former Perth striker took interim charge in April, replacing Callum Davidson.

 

St Johnstone had won just two games in 2023 at that stage with a relegation fight looming, but have since lost only one game under MacLean to secure safety.

Jim Goodwin has signed a two-year contract to remain manager of Scottish Premiership bottom club Dundee United.

 

Goodwin, 41, took over from Liam Fox at Tannadice in March and has won three of his 11 matches in charge. The Irishman started the season as Aberdeen boss but was sacked in January after successive defeats by Hearts, Darvel and Hibs.

 

On Sunday, United need to beat Motherwell and hope Ross County lose at Kilmarnock to avoid automatic relegation. County possess an eight-goal advantage over the Tangerines.