Rangers captain David Weir was disappointed to lose a goal to Hibernian in the first minute of Sunday's Scottish Premier League match but was delighted with the character his team-mates showed in battling back to win 4-1.

Anthony Stokes put Hibs ahead after 12 seconds at Easter Road but Rangers will take a four-point lead over Celtic into next weekend's Old Firm clash thanks to two goals from Kenny Miller and a goal each from Kris Boyd and Nacho Novo.

"We knew they'd coming flying out the box but we weren't ready for them," Weir said. "It was a big disappointment but we responded in the right way."

Weir was thrilled with a win over Scotland's third-placed side ahead of Wednesday's game against fourth-placed Dundee United and the 3 January trip to Parkhead "It just gives us a chance," Weir added. "We've got a big week, starting with today and today obviously was a confidence booster."

Rangers manager Walter Smith said: "It was a poor start - the first 20 minutes of the game we didn't play at all but after that, I thought we played very well."

His Hibs counterpart, John Hughes, also felt his side had been the better team early in the match. "It was a great start for us and for the first 20 minutes I felt they were doing everything I'd asked of them," Hughes said. "Fundamentally, I felt we gave Rangers four goals. Some of the defending wasn't too great."