Source: Team_Talk
Edu: Gers chasing double win boost
The Scottish champions romped to a 4-1 win over Hibernian at Easter Road - a notoriously difficult venue for the Ibrox side in the past - to restore their four-point lead over Celtic at the summit on Sunday.[LNB]Walter Smith's men now face an important week where they welcome Dundee United to Ibrox on Wednesday night in a bid to end December with a 100 per cent record, before kicking off the new year with Sunday's much-anticipated Old Firm derby.[LNB]If Rangers can maintain the form which has seen them net 19 goals so far this month, midfielder Edu believes there can be no clearer indication that they have what it takes to retain their crown this term.[LNB]He said: "It will be a huge step towards the title if we win the next couple of games. It will put us in a good position and quite a few points ahead of the rest.[LNB]"There is still quite a bit of the season to go, but if we can finish off this year strongly, we will feel confident going into the second half of the season."[LNB]Rangers claimed a domestic double last term and Edu sees no reason why they cannot go one better this time around.[LNB]He added: "We want to retain the title. We want to win it again and we are still involved with both cups, so we want to finish the season with a treble.[LNB]"We are in good form and, in the last few games, we've scored a few goals and defended well. It's now a matter of being consistent and, if we can do that, we can finish the season strongly.[LNB]"If we won at Celtic Park? It would be a continuation of what is going on. We want to show we are the top team in Scotland and our past couple of performances have shown we are in top form. We want to continue that."[LNB]The United States international has recovered from the serious knee injury he sustained on the final day last term, and made his first appearance of the season against Hibs as substitute in the latter stages of the game with Rangers cruising at 4-1.[LNB]He said: "Now I've got 20 minutes under my belt and I want to progress from there."[LNB]Hibs made a superb start when Anthony Stokes claimed the SPL's fastest ever goal with just 12 seconds on the clock, but Rangers staged an impressive comeback when Kenny Miller grabbed a double and Kris Boyd and Nacho Novo helped themselves to a goal apiece.[LNB]Stokes said: "We couldn't have asked for a better start and it would have been nice to nick another goal in the first 20 minutes. But no-one stood up to the plate and that goes for all of us. It's just very disappointing."[LNB]He claimed earlier in the season that Hibs were capable of splitting the Old Firm this season, while others had backed John Hughes' men to go as far as challenging for the title.[LNB]"There is no chance of that now," admitted Stokes.[LNB]"We have had games in the last few weeks where we haven't played well and still won and maybe this game was a wake-up call."[LNB][LNB] Rangers 4/11, Draw 7/2, Dundee Utd 8/1
