Strikers finding form as Rangers bounce back

Derek McInnes demanded a response from his Rangers team after the disappointment of two dropped points at Dundee last weekend - and they delivered in emphatic style to swot aside St Johnstone.

Other than a bit of a wobble at the start of the second half when Saints threatened to get back into the game, Rangers dominated and the 4-0 win in no way flattered them.

"Rangers were excellent for a number of reasons," former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday said on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.

"I thought it was as a positive 90 minutes as you can get. They created an abundance of chances. In the first half alone it should have been 4-0.

"It's always a positive when you come away with no injuries and your strikers are scoring goals again."

The goals and performances of Kevin Kelsy and Ryan Naderi at the top end of the pitch justified McInnes' decision to drop Djeidi Gassama to the bench and go with two strikers.

The two linked up well for Kelsy's opening goal and, with the Venezuelan coming away with a brace and Naderi a goal and an assist, the partnership provided more evidence they can spearhead Rangers' attack in the continued absence of Lawrence Shankland and Youssef Chermiti.

"Goals and assists for a striker make such a big difference in the style of play and how you approach the whole game," said ex-Rangers forward Peter Lovenkrands on Sportsound.

"You take shots, you are more confident with your touches, everything like that just gets better and better. This will do a world of good for Kelsy's confidence."

The match stats tell the story of Rangers' dominance.

Their expected goals was 4.57 to St Johnstone's 0.58. They had 21 shots on goal, nine on target and created eight big chances to Saints' two.

They forced 13 corners and one of them led to a goal as Kelsy got on the end of Emmanuel Fernandez's flick-on to tuck home his second goal. It was the first goal Rangers have scored from a corner this season.

"One of Rangers' main strengths from last season was set-pieces," said Halliday.

"Rangers have had countless corners and wide free-kicks this season when it's not been James Tavernier delivering it. The standard of delivery this year has been really poor from set-pieces.

"They've got Naderi, Kelsy, Fernandez, they've got giants to hit but the delivery for the most part hasn't been good enough.

"On the 11th corner today they finally scored. Talk about adding strings to their bow. They need to get back to the point where they are a real danger from set-pieces."

McInnes felt the performance was "as good as we've been for a while" and it sets his team up nicely for Wednesday night's Scottish Premiership meeting with Hearts, the Rangers manager's first return to Tynecastle since swapping Gorgie for Govan in the summer.

"I had a brilliant time there and I know how difficult the fixture is for any opposition going to Tynecastle," said McInnes.

"We were unbeaten all season last season at Hearts and they've a strong home record, so we're going to have to bring a big performance to go there and get a result.

"We're well aware of that but I think we're in good form. We are slowly but surely just chalking off wins and there's loads of positives.

"It's never a bad thing when your strikers score and you go to any game, any venue, believing that you can get a result. We expect it to be tough but equally we want to make sure it's a tough night for them as well."