Sasa Papac came to Rangers' rescue with a late winner against St Johnstone to send the Scottish champions to the summit of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with a 2-1 success.

The full-back picked the ideal time to net his first goal of the season when he grabbed the decider at McDiarmid Park after Kris Boyd had cancelled out Collin Samuel's opener.

The final result was a blow for a plucky Saints side who picked up their first SPL win last week and had looked set to claim their biggest scalp of the season.

After Martin Hardie had hit a post for the home side, they deservedly took the lead after 17 minutes when Samuel raced onto a superb ball from Murray Davidson before bearing down on goal and slotting underneath Allan McGregor.

But Rangers were back on level terms four minutes before the break anyway when a Kevin Thomson shot was inadvertently blocked by Papac and broke for Boyd to rifle home the rebound from eight yards.

Chris Millar missed a fine chance to win it for the Saints as he hesitated when well set, and Papac made him pay when he collected Steven Naismith's pass and coolly converted seven minutes from time.