Michael Moffat handed six-match ban for breaching Scottish football betting rules Moffat, who has scored 18 goals this season, has been hit with an immediate ban which is twice as heavy as the one meted out to Rangers midfielder Ian Black in September, although Moffat has escaped a fine. The former Inverness and Hearts player was fined £7,500 and given a 10-match ban, of which seven games were suspended, after admitting betting on matches involving his own team. The SFA charge stated that three of the bets concerned were on his club not to win. Black was also issued with a censure after admitting betting on 147 other matches. In both cases, the SFA stressed there was no evidence to suggest a breach of rule 34, which covers influencing the outcome of a game in order to benefit financially through betting. Each SFA judicial panel is made up of three independent members composed from a large pool. Lennon still unsure over Samaras and Ledley Neil Lennon revealed there has been little progress with regards his bid to keep Georgios Samaras and Joe Ledley, both of whom are out of contract at the end of the season. The Celtic manager said: "We don't know were we are with Georgios at the minute, we still haven't a definitive answer either way. The signs with Joe are more positive but again, we have no confirmation of that. There is no deadlines but the longer it drags on the more speculation there will be about the two of them and obviously we can do without that at the minute. Meanwhile, Kris Commons believes his sizzling form for Celtic this season has been aided and abetted by his retirement from the Scotland set-up. Commons has thrived without the "distraction" of the national side, scoring 17 goals on the way to winning the Scottish Professional Football League player of the month award for December, which he picked up at the club's Lennoxtown training complex on Thursday. He said: "I have been out of it (Scotland set-up) for the best part of six months and form-wise and goal-scoring form-wise, I haven't played as good and probably never scored as many goals at club level. Without that distraction, it has certainly helped me. When your sole purpose is concentrating on Celtic then you tend to play your best football. When you have other directions and other aspects of your game you have to concentrate on, and travelling, it does take it out of you. Dundee United tyros to be rested Teenagers John Souttar and Ryan Gauld will miss Dundee United's visit to Ross County on Saturday after being sent on a sunshine break. United manager Jackie McNamara has decided the pair need a short holiday to rediscover their spark after making 42 first-team appearances between them this season. United have failed to win in five Scottish Premiership games following a six-game run of victories and McNamara believes the move will benefit the team and both 17-year-old defender Souttar and 18-year-old Gauld. McNamara told the club's official blog: "We have asked a lot of them and this is the first Christmas period they have not had time off due to their progression to the first team squad. In the summer both were away with Scotland and played right through. Every international break they have been involved so this is the right decision that will ensure they are ready for the second half of the season and give them a rest. St Johnstone keen on Goodwillie St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has spoken to David Goodwillie about a move to the McDiarmid Park club. The 24-year-old striker is back at Blackburn after a loan spell at Dundee United ended, with Saints and Aberdeen interested in bringing him back to Scotland on another temporary deal. Ahead of the Scottish Premiership clash with Hearts at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, the Perth club's boss said: "We have made an inquiry and Blackburn are fully aware of what we are prepared to go to in terms of what we can afford in wages. David has to take a few days to decide where he wants to go. Even staying at Blackburn may be an option for him and he might want to stay in England. I have spoken to David and he was quite impressed with the club. It was a good meeting. He is a really nice lad and his advisors were there too. He is based in Stirling and we train there, so logistically it would be good for him. I also think he would an ideal partner for Stevie May and I think he would be excited by that. So I think if he comes back to Scotland we would have a very good chance of getting him. Bouzid and Silva to be assessed Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnston will assess the fitness of defender Ismael Bouzid and winger David Silva before finalising his January transfer plans. The pair have only played seven games between them since signing short-term deals in September but have been given until the end of the month to prove they are over recent injuries. Johnston has continued to reshape his squad by extending loan spells for Celtic midfielder Jackson Irvine and Dundee United forward Michael Gardyne, while midfielder Barry Nicholson's contract has been extended until the end of the season. Kyle Jacobs, Mark Stewart, Gary Fisher, Reuben Gabriel and Rabiu Ibrahim have all been released while Johnston has lost centre-back Darren Barr for two months because of a hip injury. Clark and Shiels in the wars Rangers striker Nicky Clark is set to miss Monday night's trip to Forfar after boss Ally McCoist confirmed the frontman is set for a scan on his injured foot. Clark suffered severe bruising to the foot in the 1-0 win at Airdrie on January 2 but the problem has yet to heal and McCoist fears the 22-year-old may have a more serious problem. He told the official Rangers website: "I have to say it's not great news on Nicky at the moment and he's still feeling the foot to be very, very tender. He has been for an x-ray and that has showed there's a good bit of bruising but we're now sending him for a scan to see how serious it is. We're sitting with our fingers crossed and hopefully it's not too serious but he's wearing a protective boot as a precaution more than anything at the moment. Dean Shiels, who returned from a prolonged stretch on the sidelines to fire both goals in the 2-0 win over East Fife last week, could also miss the Station Park clash. McCoist said: "Dean came back in at the weekend and did very well but he has taken a whack in training today. He limped off and headed into the treatment room so I'm not sure how he'll be. We'll have to assess him tomorrow morning.