Kemar Roofe hits hat-trick as Rangers thrash St Mirren to close gap at top

Kemar Roofe bagged his first Rangers hat-trick in a 4-0 win at St Mirren to reduce the gap behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic to six points.

The 29-year-old striker headed the Light Blues in front before two minutes had elapsed and then nodded in a second in four added minutes at the end of the first half, by which time boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst had lost John Lundstram and Filip Helander to injury.

Roofe drove in a third from close range five minutes into the second half and Joe Aribo’s terrific finish in the 76th minute keeps the Ibrox outfit in the slipstream of their city rivals ahead of the Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final clash at Hampden Park next Sunday.

Before that Rangers take on Braga in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final at Ibrox on Thursday night looking to overcome a 1-0 deficit from during the week and the win will have boosted confidence.

Stephen Robinson’s St Mirren side, consigned to the bottom six before they went into the game following results elsewhere on Saturday, remain in 10th place, six points ahead of second-bottom St Johnstone and will fear a relegation battle in their five post-split fixtures.

Following exertions in Portugal on Thursday, Van Bronckhorst reshuffled his squad, making five changes by bringing in Borna Barisic, Helander, Aribo, Aaron Ramsey and Roofe, who made an early impact.

Ibrox captain James Tavernier fizzed the ball across goal and it overshot to the other side of the penalty area to Ryan Kent and when he returned the ball towards goal, Roofe glanced his header from eight yards past Saints keeper Dean Lyness.

The home side’s response was positive and they pushed Rangers back but Gers keeper Allan McGregor was well-protected.

There was a blow for