Rangers returned to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over St Johnstone, with Derek McInnes praising his side's 'brilliance' after they responded to his demand for a top performance. The win came after last weekend's disappointing draw at Dundee.
A Kevin Kelsy double, along with strikes from Ryan Naderi and Tochi Chukwuani, saw the Light Blues move to within one point of leaders Celtic.
McInnes demands brilliance
McInnes was delighted with the display as his players met his high standards following the setback at Dens Park. He said: "It's quite ironic that we were so good and so brilliant at times in the first half by creating so many opportunities that we were only a goal to the good at half-time. We didn't want the frustration of those missed opportunities and dominance filter into the second half and half-time came at a bad time for us."
"Despite the conditions, some of the play was very good, I asked the players to be brilliant today and not to just win the game. I asked them to really commit to being the best they can be and I thought we were in the first half. I could have stated the obvious at half-time and said we could have been more ruthless."
"Everything was brilliant except the result at half-time, we should have been more in front but half-time came at a good time for St Johnstone. It allowed Simo Valakari to correct a few things and make a few changes. It was a different approach from them as they went a bit more direct up to their big striker and we were a bit slow to react to one or two opportunities."
Second-half response
Despite the early dominance, Rangers had to weather a spell of pressure from the visitors. McInnes added: "We have no Devine right to get a ninety minute dominant performance as St Johnstone are a good side in their own right so we had to come through that wee spell and we changed to a back four just to see that through and we got the second goal and from then on it was quite straight forward."
"It was ironic that we scored three goals in the second half when we weren't just as polished or as clean in our work but our two strikers still contributed and Djeidi Gassama has created a brilliant opportunity for Tochi to score at the end."
"We scored three goals in a second half when we weren't so good, in the first half we were completely dominant, we were very, very good and only scored once. There are lots of learnings for us there but to get your strikers scoring goals, keeping a clean sheet and get another win chalked off in what was a horrible day when it was just about hoping to win the game."
Rommens returns and Hearts test looms
McInnes was also pleased to see Tuur Rommens return to action as a second-half substitute after an 11-week injury absence. He said: "The point today was to try and Tuur some minutes and I wanted to get Ben Godfrey some minutes as he trains every day as though it's his last. I can't please everybody and it's a juggling act if I am being honest but players need to earn their right to play."
Rangers now face a trip to Hearts on Wednesday night, a first visit to Tynecastle for McInnes since his switch to Ibrox. He said: "A lot will be made of me going back there but Hearts have such a strong home record. We went last season unbeaten at home and there's a reason that. Hearts fans get behind their team and it's a tough venue to have to go to at the best of times."
"It's all about the game and once it starts we need to make sure we bring a big performance and we are looking forward to the challenge."
