Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths homes in on Henrik Larsson record while Kenny Miller scores vital winner for what Dundee skipper Gary Harkins reckons is ‘new club’ Rangers

Today

• Leigh Griffiths sets sights on Henrik Larsson and Brian McClair's joint record of 35 league goals in one season
• James Forrest set for Celtic exit after turning down new deal
• Warburton savages his Rangers team’s efforts in spite of their re-establishment of an eight point Championship lead
• Kenny Miller savours silencing supporters’ sarcasm with match-winning strike
• Gunning insists United have maintained their team spirit after a badly needed win ends a turbulent week at Tannadice
• Motherwell try to work out why they have conceded late once again as Saints end their win-less run
• Dundee skipper Harkins stirs things up by anticipating a first ever meeting with ‘new club’ Rangers
• Competition for places hots up in the Highlands as semi-final hero Schalk finds impresses again off the subs bench
• Satisfaction all round for Stubbs as Hibs rotate their squad and cruise to victory
• Brewster beats Olympic team-mates to reclaim title at Scottish Curling Champs
• Muirhead continues her domination of Scottish women’s curling scene
• Record-breaking runs for home trio Twell, Muir and Butchart at Scottish Indoor Grand Prix
• Half a gallon a day keeps the pounds at bay for middle-distance runner Learmonth
• County kids back on top at Murrayfield

Homing in on Henrik (and Brian)

Leigh Griffiths reckons record jointly held by Larsson and McClair is beatable

De-Forresting underway

James Forrest has turned down an extended deal with Celtic so looks set to leave the club

Under impressed

Winning was not enough for Rangers boss Mark Warburton as he made clear afterwards

He who laughs last...

Kenny Miller reckoned some in the crowd were baiting him over a miscue as his winning shot sailed into the QoS goal

Keeping up spirits

Gavin Gunning reckons suggestions that there has been a lack of spirit among Dundee United players has been misplaced

Curiouser and curiouser

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee has been giving some thought to his team's growing tendency to let in important late goals

Making friends and influencing people...

Dundee captain Gary Harkins looks to be ensuring a hot reception from Rangers supporters should his side safely negotiate their Scottish Cup replay against Dumbarton to meet the Championship leaders in the last eight

Off the sidelines

Alex Schalk makes another impact amidst increased competition for places at Ross County

Sitting comfortably

Hibs manager Alan Stubbs had a satisfying day all-round as he rested players and still saw his side thrash Alloa

Celebration time

Skip Tom Brewster celebrates his win over Olympic colleagues Team Murdoch in the Scottish Curling Championship final with one of his new team-mates Hammy McMillan (pic by Tom J Brydone)

Ice queen

Eve Muirhead coolly urged her team to yet another Scottish title win at the national curling championships (pic by Tom J Brydone)

Milking it

Guy Learmonth is thriving on his new regime which includes four pints of milk a day

Record breaker

Andrew Butchart was one of three Scottish athletes to set new national best marks at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix

Back on top

A familiar sight as Stirling County's under-18s claim victory in a cup final at Murrayfield

06.05 Radio Scotland sports headlines

Hibs manager Alan Stubbs says he'll continue to shuffle his teams as they compete for honours on three fronts... Shrewsbury Town aim to pile the pressure onto Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal when they meet them in the FA Cup tonight... Eve Muirhead says her sixth Scottish title win has taken her rink closer to selection for another Winter Olympics... Ronnie O'Sullivan wins Welsh snooker title in spite of three night bout of insomnia 

06.32 Radio Five Live sports headlines

Manuel Pellegrini insists he did not disrespect the FA Cup in spite of under-strength Manchester City's thrashing at hands of Chelsea... West Ham's reward for reaching FA Cup finals is a trip to Manchester United or Shrewsbury... Ronnie O'Sullivan says he needs a good week's sleep after his latest snooker title win in Wales... Leeds Rhinos thumped by New Queensland in rugby league World Club Challenge... England's cricketers lose decider to South Africa but captain Eoin Morgan says they will not be changing their style ahead of the World T20... wins for Newcastle and Exeter in rugby union's English Premiership and for Scarlets in the Pro12... diver Tom Daly secures his place at another Olympics  

Read all about it - the back pages

The Evening Times carries its exclusive on James Forrest's readiness to depart Celtic as well as marking Kenny Miller's vital match-winner for Rangers which also features on the back of The National, while the front page of The Herald's Monday sports section focuses on the angry reaction of Miller's manager Mark Warburton to the overall way that victory was achieved

Grandstanding – today’s sports comment

As the grass v artificial surfaces rages in a country that regularly has matches postponed because of waterlogged surfaces, Matthew Lindsay makes the case for embracing plastic pitches in The Herald.

Sporting Twitterati

Scottish athletics chief Nigel Holl pays tribute to two new national record holders, but the third apparently earns the BBC’s ultimate accolade as their pundit bids to claim him for England:

Scots on fire ........pb for @lauramuiruns 800m and world champs qualifyer and pb for Steph Twell! Top stuff!

— Nigel Holl (@nigelholl) February 20, 2016

@paulajradcliffe Andrew Butchart is not English

— Cubser (@ac_alistair) February 20, 2016

Meanwhile Tom Brewster’s magnanimity towards his former team-mates following his latest victory at the Scottish Curling Championships does not prevent at least one observer from making a pointed observation:

Congrats to Tom Brewster and his team. Will he now get from the RC the recogntion he deserves? Beat the team they took from him.

— Jim Henderson (@Sweeprrr) February 20, 2016

Behind the headlines

Memories of seeing, on the way into the offices of the Dundee Courier, Liz McColgan pounding out the miles up, down and around the Kingsway in the early nineties were re-kindled by the news this weekend that only now has one of the records set by the female version of (sort of) fellow Dundonian Alf Tupper ‘the tough of the track’ been broken.

There was something really special about Liz Lynch, as we first knew her, in the way that she grittily gutsed out so many great wins down the years which only makes Steph Twell’s achievement in replacing her as the fastest ever Scot over 3000 metres.

It was not just that performance that evoked memories of the last golden age of Scottish athletics when McColgan, Yvonne Murray and Tom McKean regularly featured at the big meets either, since Twell was matched in setting a native Scottish track record by another woman, Laura Muir and one of the emerging male prospects Andrew Butchart.

In a Scottish sporting world dominated by football and to a lesser extent rugby, sports at which we have not fared terribly well for a long, long time, it is refreshing to be distracted by quality achievement in other sports, which is why it has been so enjoyable over the past couple of years, to gain greater insight into one that Scottish teams are consistently among the best in the world.

Last week’s Scottish Curling Championships celebrated that as world ranked number four Team Muirhead continued their domination of the women’s domestic scene, while a fiercely competitive men’s event ultimately saw rinks skipped by two of her fellow Sochi Olympians meet in the final.

For all that the average age of club members is sixty-something curling’s elevation to Olympic status has seen it become increasingly a young person’s sport at elite level, so the fact that Tom Brewster and Dave Murdoch have been doing battle since the days when Liz McColgan, now in her fifties, was still winning London Marathons is a tribute to both men.

Their rivalry was heightened when Murdoch was, controversially, brought into the team Brewster had built ahead of those Winter Olympics two years ago, then appointed its skip, so there was an added dynamic to this particular match in what is a fascinating sport, combining elements of chess strategy and snooker skill with a requirement for poised control and bursts of frenetic energy from sweepers who nowadays spend countless hours in the gym.

There was a time when everyone else in sport would have laughed at curlers being described as athletes, but more and more are realising that they are now as entitled to the tag as the likes of Twell, Muir and Butchart as this Cinderella sport begins to emerge from the shadows with increased interest from broadcasters and sponsors.

Brewster’s victory was a heart-warming story too, given all the associated history and it is good to be able to anticipate Scots having real opportunities to succeed on the global stage as his team of Hammy McMillan, son of the world champion of the same name, Ross Paterson and Glen Muirhead head for the men’s World Championship in Basel in April a couple of weeks after Glen’s sister Eve and girlfriend Anna Sloan, head to Saskatchewan, along with Vicki Adams and Sarah Reid, for the women’s version.

Those were the days

Record breaking feats at the Glasgow Grand Prix rekindled memories of all-time Scottish athletics great Liz McColgan

Thanks for reading. Back tomorrow with another day’s Scottish sports agenda.