PEDRO MENDES will be fit to face Celtic in the League Cup final on March 15, and may even return to action against Hamilton on Sunday in the Homecoming Scottish Cup.

The Portuguese star missed Saturday's 1-0 league win over Accies with a thigh strain.

A scan revealed minor tissue damage and he will again sit out tomorrow's home clash against Inverness, but there is no tear and it's a short-term problem.

Walter Smith, the Gers boss, said: "We will see how Pedro recovers. He only has torn fibres and the scan showed there was no tear in his muscle.

"It's just a matter of when his injury settles down. I think the Inverness game will come too early, but we're hopeful he'll be back on Sunday.

"It is unusual for Pedro to get an injury and he'll be disappointed at dropping out of the team.

"We were disappointed to lose him too but he'll come back and I'm sure everything will be okay."

Another set to return at the weekend is Nacho Novo, who missed the last month with an ankle knock.

Smith added: "Tomorrow might come a little bit too soon for Nacho as well, and we'll see what the situation is there over the next couple of days.

"He is certainly ready to rejoin the squad again for training, but we'll make sure he is fully fit before putting him back in the team again.

"If he is not ready to play against Inverness, he'll certainly be fit for the tie with Hamilton at the weekend."

Meantime, striker Rory Loy, currently on loan to Dunfermline, has signed a new deal that ties the 20-year-old to Rangers until 2011.

Elsewhere, Carlos Cuellar, the former Ibrox hero, has claimed he was delighted to move from Glasgow to Birmingham, as the English city reminds him of Marbella.

"The weather here in Birmingham is great compared to Glasgow as it rained a lot there," said the Spaniard.

"It was also very cold and, if it didn't rain, then it was blowing a gale. Last week here it was 14 degrees, like Marbella."