HE is getting the ball but he is not scoring goals.

It has been some time since Rangers fans were able to chant Kris Boyd's name in celebration.

But Jon Daly's confident the Light Blue legions will have plenty of chances to salute their strike star once the forward finally gets off and running in the Championship.

After agreeing to return to Rangers this summer, Boyd became the red-hot favourite to claim the Championship golden boot as he looked to add to the 128 goals he netted during his prolific first spell with the Gers.

He has put just another five on his tally, however, with a hat-trick against Clyde and brace in the win over Queen's Park the only times he has found the net so far.

Boyd heads into the Championship clash with Hibernian tonight without a goal in six league games and, with Kenny Miller and Nicky Clark sidelined through injury, Daly is keen to help him get off the mark.

"The goals will come eventually," he said. "When you look at his record, the goals speak for themselves.

"He's getting chances and, once he gets his first league goal, he'll get a load of them.

"He's a class finisher who's just been a bit unlucky at the moment that the ball isn't going in for him.

"All strikers go through these spells when things don't happen for them but Boydy is still working hard for the team.

"I would think that we could form a good partnership. We would work well together but the manager has plenty of options, which is a nice headache to have.

"However, if he chose to go with Boydy and myself then I'm sure we'd pose plenty of problems for opponents."

While Boyd has passed up a series of chances to open his league account this season, Daly has had few opportunities to impress so far.

He missed the opening weeks of the campaign after going under the knife to cure a knee problem in the summer and has only returned to the Ibrox fold in the last few weeks.

With Miller and Clark absent, Daly is poised to feature more regularly and the Irishman is determined to hit top gear as quickly as possible.

He said: "Game time is probably the only thing which will help me get up to speed. You can train and run as much as you want but playing in matches is a totally different type of fitness.

"When I came on against Inverness the pace of that game was so much quicker than any of the training I had been doing and it takes time for you to get back up to that tempo, but the more I play the better that should get."

The road back to the Rangers first team has been a long one for Daly, but it will be a worthwhile journey if he can hold down a regular place in Ally McCoist's attacking line.

Rangers' upcoming league and cup outings will give Daly a chance to prove that he is worthy of a starting berth.

But the 31-year-old admits he will have to manage his fitness carefully to ensure he is in prime condition come the first blow of the whistle.

Daly said: "There has to be a balance between training days and gym days. I have to keep on top of my strength work and that's what I'm doing now - going on the treadmill and taking the weight off the knee.

"So I'm going to have to manage the situation because I'm probably not going to be able to train day-in and day-out for the rest of my career. I just take each day as it comes."

While Rangers head into their clash with Hibernian tonight with their sights set on top of the table Hearts, their Easter Road counterparts are looking over their shoulders.

Alan Stubbs' side are just two points ahead of rock bottom Cowdenbeath in the Championship standings as their bid for an immediate return to the top flight has got off to a shocking start.

Boss McCoist has refused to rule Hibs out of the title race even if they lose at Ibrox tonight and Daly is taking nothing for granted.

He said: "I'm not surprised that they have struggled to adapt because this is a strong league, with some good sides in it. A lot of the teams don't get the credit they deserve.

"But Hibs had a great win at Ross County and I'm sure they'll take confidence from that.

"They' ll try and make it difficult for us and taking three points from us would help them kick on in the league after losing at Alloa, but we need to get back to winning ways ourselves.

"We had a good result at Falkirk last time out and we wan to build on that."