Club football returns this weekend, much to the joy of Scottish supporters everywhere. The action kicks off early this weekend for fans of Rangers and St Johnstone on Friday night at McDiarmid Park.

With the teams locked on equal points in the Scottish Premiership, it promises to be a cracker with both teams fancying their chances of keeping pace with Aberdeen and Celtic above them.

Rangers fans will go into the match expectant of three points but they might not find that win easy to come by. Tommy Wright's team are always tough competitors and having finished in the top four of the Scottish top-flight for three years running, are entitled to feel confident themselves.

At the very least it'll be a tricky and difficult encounter for Pedro Caixinha's team and here are THREE reasons why...

They've scored in all but one of their league matches so far

St Johnstone have been in excellent goalscoring form so far this season. While they haven't been racking up the goals in individual matches, they have consistently been finding the back of the net and forcing teams to score more than one or two if they want to get a result against them.

The only team that have managed to keep a clean sheet against them in the top-flight has been the impressive Aberdeen. Even champions Celtic couldn't manage, with Tommy Wright's side picking up an impressive draw at Celtic Park in the early stages of the season.

The positive for Rangers is that top goalscorer Michael O'Halloran is unavailable for the match-up given he is on loan from the Light Blues, but even then there are threats in the likes of Stevie MacLean, Liam Craig and Murray Davidson, who have all scored more than once this term.

Every encounter last season was closely fought

Last season saw four very closely contested match-ups between the two sides. Rangers eventually got the better of the Perth side by the end of the season with two victories by a single goal margin.

However the first two fixtures, including one at Friday night's venue McDiarmid Park, ended in 1-1 draws with neither side managing to cause too much damage to the opposition.

They were physical, stodgy affairs and similar can be expected this weekend. These are the matches in which Pedro Caixinha's Rangers side have struggled in before, preferring an open, expansive game against teams not afraid to sit back.

Will the Light Blues be up for the battle? They'll have to be if they want three points.

Pedro Caixinha has given them extra motivation

Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Rangers vs Celtic - Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Britain - September 23, 2017   Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha    REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

This week Pedro Caixinha has been outspoken about his side's opponents. First he likened them to Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton, not exactly the most kind of comparisons. Then he went further later in the week when he accused the Perth Saints of spying on the Light Blues the last time the two sides met, taking information from someone who leaked the team.

It was explosive stuff and has capture the headlines and back pages in Scotland in the latter half of this week.

It's all given Tommy Wright's side extra motivation and it was needlessly caused by Caixinha's inability to communicate well with a hungry Scottish media.

St Johnstone stalwart Stevie MacLean hit back with his own comments, as did the Saints manager himself, branding the Rangers boss 'paranoid', so it's clear the words have been heard in the home dressing room, which could make Friday night's trip to Perth more difficult than it needed to be.