Manager Mark Warburton has said three points from St Mirren this weekend was a big result for Rangers.
Video – St Mirren Highlights
Speaking to the Official Site in his post game press conference, a pleased Warburton said of the one nil win courtesy of a goal from Jason Holt, that it was a game where we had to dig it out and show plenty of resilience to take the win because we patently weren’t at our best on the day.
‘When we look back at the end of the season, that was a big three points for us today. We knew about the level of challenge, we saw their approach, and we didn`t want to get drawn into a ‘cup-final` type scenario. We weren`t at our best by a long way in terms of taking care of the ball and making good decisions. The players know that – they`re very honest, but we still came here and created a lot of chances, and, very respectfully, we could have been out of sight in the first half.’
Warburton went on to say it was difficult to ‘say’ why were weren’t at our best on the day but bottom line is we weren’t and we had to get the win the hard way, so he had to be pleased with that.
‘I keep saying about our opponents that they aren`t going to do what we want them to do – they were physical and their crowd got behind them. We didn`t want to get involved in a battle – and in those sort of conditions it`s hard sometimes as you can be drawn into one-on-one situations. But it was a pleasing performance. We showed our supporters our resilience, and it was a big three points. We knew it would be tough as they have a good recent run of results, but we dealt with it and even although we were below our best, we still got a big result today.’
With it being two in two for Holt in the Championship now, he came in for particular praise from the gaffer.
‘Jason has been tremendous. His level of consistency and quality in recent weeks has been outstanding. He works tirelessly off the ball too and cramped up in the 85th minute there as a result of the amount of work he got through. It was a great finish from him, and there were some big performances out there. You look at Wes Foderingham – he had two or three outstanding saves, and the subs came on and had a good impact too. There is no doubt over Wes. His distribution is outstanding, he`s brave on the ball, and he`s calm, assured and dominates his box and had two or three first-class saves.’
With an eight point gap still over Hibernian at the top of the Championship table, Warburton looked briefly ahead to next Sunday’s trip to Easter Road – but he was very quick to point out ‘we’ wouldn’t be treating the game any differently.
‘It`s another game, and another three points – I don`t care who it is. I`m sure the media and other people will build the game up, but our focus is on Rangers Football Club and being the best we can. Every game – whether it`s Hibernian or Raith, it`s just about the next game. Today was purely about St Mirren, and coming here and getting the result.’
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