Kenny Miller (left) and Kris Boyd are developing a potent double-act

Rangers manager Walter Smith has given striker Kris Boyd a boost by suggesting he has the potential to surpass Ally McCoist's goalscoring achievements.

At the age of 25, Boyd's record shows that he has scored 81 goals in 114 appearances for Rangers. McCoist scored 355 goals in 15 years at Ibrox.

Smith said: "If he carries on playing at Rangers as long as Ally did, then he has an opportunity to beat that.

"He's a terrific finisher, one of the best I've been involved with."

Boyd claimed a hat-trick in a 14-minute spell against Inverness on Saturday, taking his total for the season into double figures.

After the controversy of his decision to quit the international set-up while George Burley is in charge, Boyd's promise to buckle down and prove himself at club level is paying dividends for Smith and Rangers.

Smith said: "He had bits of his game that he had to improve on and he's worked at that since the start of the season.

"He's improved that aspect and it's not interfered with his level of goals. Long may that continue."

Since signing from Kilmarnock in the January transfer window of 2006, Boyd's scoring has been prolific.

When he switched Rugby Park for Ibrox, he became the first player to be top scorer at two clubs in one season, having hit the net 17 times for the Ayrshire club and on 20 occasions for Rangers.

He then clocked up another 26 goals in a difficult season under Paul Le Guen in 2006/07 and one less last season.

With potentially a decade remaining of his career, he is already the second top scorer in SPL history, behind Celtic star Henrik Larsson, who scored 158 goals.

Smith expressed his pleasure at the understanding being built up by Kenny Miller and Boyd.

"The partnership is starting to develop," said the Rangers boss.

"In quite a number of the games this season we have had a lot of possession of the ball and never quite managed to get the goals at the end of it, so it was nice to do that on Saturday.

"It's something we will have to continue to work at and emphasise that good possession of the ball isn't necessarily going to win you the game."

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