Rangers boss Gio van Bronckhorst is convinced his team are bonafide title contenders but urged his players to display their ruthless streak.
The Ibrox boss moved to within two points of in-form leaders Celtic, who travel to St Mirren on Sunday, after a 2-1 win over Dundee United as Antonio Colak' s double was cut in half by Liam Smith. The final exchanges were nervous within Ibrox but they held on for three points.
United, once again under the charge of caretaker boss Liam Fox, are still seeking a first league win of the season but will take encouragement from aspects of their play. Despite an improved Gers performance against Napoli in midweek, the 3-0 defeat in the Champions League at Ibrox meant 11 goals conceded and none scored in three games, meaning punters inside Ibrox knew three points were a necessity. Speaking on Sportsound, the Rangers boss said: "After difficult weeks, it was good to go back to winning ways, the result today was the most important thing, it had to be positive.
"It should have been more comfortable than we had today, I think we started really, creating a lot of chances, scored an early goal, then the 2-0 in the second half, we have to learn to make sure we kill games earlier in the game and don't make it close to have a draw, that is something we have to do better,
"Last year, we had a couple of games were we didn't kill the games early and it costs us points in the end, Fortunately, today, it didn't cost us any points.
"It's good to go into the break with a win, we have two weeks to prepare for Hearts away and we can give players a little bit of a rest to recharge, of course we have players going to their countries, but two weeks off now and we go into a demanding and tough row of games until the World Cup.
And he hailed academy pair Leon King and Charlie McCann for their displays in the victory which sees them pull Celtic back to two points having played a game more.
He said: "I am pleased with the performances of Leon and Charlie as well, both players who came through the academy so it was good to give them minutes, I think they both deserved it the way develop and the way that they train. I am really happy for them to contribute for the win.
"It's early, I think it is six, seven games. We are still more than 30 games, anything can happen, we are here to give everything to become champions, we have to take it game by game, but I am confident we can compete in the championship, we have to work hard to be champions in the end."
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