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McCoist's fingers crossed over Jelavic Rangers manager Ally McCoist is hopeful rather than confident that Nikica Jelavic will remain at Ibrox beyond the January transfer window. The striker was the subject of a failed bid from West Ham earlier in the week and has also been linked with Liverpool, West Brom, Fulham and QPR. McCoist knows his top goalscorer - who misses Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League game against Hibernian through illness - could attract further offers before Tuesday's deadline. On the prospect of Jelavic remaining at Rangers at least until the end of the season, the manager said: "I'm very hopeful. I'm not sure confidence is the right word because, as we know, anything can happen in the transfer window. "But I'm very hopeful that he will still be a Rangers player at 11pm on Tuesday." Rangers already trail rivals Celtic by four points in the title race and, asked if they can retain the championship without Jelavic, McCoist said: "Time will tell. I would obviously be far happier going into the run-in with Nikica involved but I'm sensible enough to know that circumstances can change." The Ibrox boss says he has targets in mind if Jelavic does head for the exit door. He added: "I can't forecast what's going to happen, I don't have a crystal ball. "What I can guarantee is that we certainly have people in mind who we would like to bring in." However, McCoist claims the player himself would have no complaints about staying in Glasgow if a move south of the border does not materialise. He said: "He hasn't been in for a couple of days because of his illness but, speaking to him before, he is absolutely fine. "He knows the situation and it will not be a problem to Nikica if he has to stay here. "Whether it's seeing out his contract or seeing out the rest of the season, it will not be a problem. He has told me that." With Celtic in Scottish Communities League Cup action this weekend, Rangers are hoping to edge closer to their rivals by returning to winning ways against Hibs after last week's draw against Aberdeen. New midfield signing Mervan Celik could be named in the squad for the first time, while Kirk Broadfoot, Steven Naismith, Kyle Lafferty, Jamie Ness and Steven Whittaker remain on the sidelines. McCoist said: "We don't want to have any more slip-ups. We want to minimise slip-ups as much as possible. "With the draw against Aberdeen, the majority of people would look at that as two points lost. "We've had four draws at home now and that's not ideal. We've got to win games starting with Hibs - it's as simple as that." James McPake claims Hibernian's league position has left him baffled as he prepares to make his debut. The 27-year-old has arrived on loan from Coventry, but admitted that finding his new side 11th in the Scottish Premier League table and only one point clear of the drop zone came as a shock. "When I looked at the table I was shocked even before I knew of the interest in me coming here," the former Livingston man said. "Now that I'm here and have seen the standard of training facilities and the players in training it is even more surprising. "We have guys like Leigh Griffiths, Garry O'Connor and Eoin Doyle who are all capable of scoring goals, we just need to stop losing silly goals at the other end. "The manager has drilled it into us that we are losing too many soft goals, hopefully we can put an end to that and results will start to improve." Hibernian will be without Leigh Griffiths and Garry O'Connor. Griffiths this week accepted a two-match ban after television footage appeared to show him making a one-fingered gesture during his side's 3-2 loss to St Johnstone last weekend, while O'Connor serves a one-match suspension for reaching six yellow cards. Tom Soares, also a new signing, is included in Pat Fenlon's squad for the trip but Ian Murray and Danny Galbraith remain sidelined with groin injuries.