STEVEN NAISMITH hopes to complete his comeback tonight - against the team he was crocked playing against.

Naisy is in line to play his first competitive game in 10 months against St Johnstone.

It will be his first outing since he was left lying in a crumpled heap on the Hampden turf in April last year as the teams battled it out for a place in the Scottish Cup Final.

Naismith suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury when St Johnstone midfielder Martin Hardie accidentally trod on him as they challenged for a loose ball.

He said: "I remember the first tackle. I just thought it was a knock and I went off and came back on. The ligament that snapped was the one that helps you turn, so when I went to do that I just hit the deck. I knew it was serious. There wasn't any pain.

"I have seen what happened again and every footballer knows tackles can happen. I have seen worse ones than that.

"Martin didn't know how bad it was at first and he was really apologetic. And that was good enough for me."

Naismith has also backed Kris Boyd to be as deadly as ever if selected. Boyd has been at the centre of speculation surrounding January transfers at Ibrox after Rangers accepted an offer for their top goalscorer from Birmingham.

The prolific forward has already netted 20 goals this season, and Naismith - who also played alongside him at Kilmarnock - sees no reason why that form cannot continue at McDiarmid Park, despite the events of the last week.

"He's had it all before, even when he was at Kilmarnock," said Naismith. "I think Cardiff came in for him, and over that period he still scored a load of goals. I know he won't be letting it affect him that much. He has proved plenty of points this season. He had a lot of doubters but he's shown he can stand up to criticism and shown what he is really about.

"After training, he's been in the gym most days of the week and he's been very dedicated."

Boyd has had much to prove since he arrived at Rangers.

"When he was younger and at a club like Kilmarnock, he knew if he didn't have the best of games then he would still play the following week," Naismith said.

"At Rangers you need to be at the top of your game, and I think Boydy's attitude is tremendous at the moment. He has worked on the things he's been told to work on, and that has shown in all his performances.

"He didn't play as much as he would have liked last season, and that's maybe what sparked him off. As we have all seen, he has proved his doubters wrong.

"His form this season has been great, and he has won us games with goals out of nothing.

"If you give him chances he will score them nine times out of 10. That's him in a nutshell.

"He has been a massive player for us this season, but it's not all just been about him."