Sat 29 Mar 08
Rangers 1
Celtic 0
Goal

The midfielder had been at Hibernian since school and spent six seasons at Easter Road, captaining the club for a lengthy period despite his tender years.

A defensive-minded player with exceptional ball skills, Thomson was born in Edinburgh but grew up in the Borders town of Peebles.

He made his debut for Hibs on November 1, 2003 - aged 19 - and went on to establish himself in the side that season, scoring the winner in the CIS quarter-final tie against Celtic and going on to play in the final that Hibs surprisingly lost to Livingston.

The campaign would end in further disappointment for Thomson when he suffered cruciate ligament damage in a match against Partick Thistle in May 2004, not returning for a full 11 months and playing only four times in season 2004/05.

He made an impressive comeback the following season, becoming one of Hibernian's most influential players.

From the start of season 2006/07 he was the constant source of transfer speculation, with Charlton, Bolton and Celtic all said to be interested in signing him.

Instead, the former Scotland under-21 and B player chose to move to Ibrox. He was used sparingly in his first few months by Smith but looked confident and adept whenever selected.

How to fit him, Barry Ferguson and Brahim Hemdani into two central midfield berths remains one of Smith's biggest dilemmas for 2007/08.