Michael Beale has challenged his side to maintain their unbeaten league run as he expressed his 'delight' at his Ibrox start.
The Rangers gaffer replaced Giovanni van Bronckhorst in November and has won 17 out of his 19 games in charge in all competitions. The one defeat on his CV is his most disappointing moment to date with his troops losing out in the League Cup Final against Celtic. Kyogo Furuhashi grabbed a double that day at Hampden while he was also the man who netted the Hoops a late draw at Ibrox in Beale's first derby as manager.
Rangers return to action this weekend against Dundee United looking to keep the pressure on Ange Postecoglou's side at the top of the table while maintaining their unbeaten run. A huge Scottish Cup semi-final comes against their Glasgow rivals at the end of April - a trophy the Ibrox gaffer has already expressed a real importance to be lifting in early June.
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The 42-year-old has enjoyed some down-time during the international break but has also spent time looking heavily into the data from the early part of the season and the trends over the past 12 weeks that have enabled his side to go on that long run of matches.
Speaking to Rangers TV, he said: "Naturally I have been delighted with the majority of the games, to win 17 out of 19 and only lose one, albeit a disappointing one, has shown the progress and has shown that the players have taken on board the ideas.
“I have heavily been looking at the data from earlier in the season and maybe the whys and why nots of why things weren't perfect at certain times and been looking at some of the trends that have been in place the last two or three months that have enabled us to go on this run.
“These are the type of winning runs that we need to go on consistently now moving forward, and obviously it is a chance for me to look again towards the recruitment and the future and what we might need.”
He continued: “Confidence comes from winning games of football, from training well and from enjoying your environment, enabling people to be themselves and be really comfortable in the environment. The level of training has gone up in the last few weeks when we have had more players fit and able to train consistently, which is something that wasn't available to us when I first came into the club.
“There are a lot of things that are positive, the environment here for us as staff and players is fantastic, what the club provide to us, it removes all the excuses really, the pitches are good, the food is good, the gym and recovery, the way that we travel and the places that we stay.
“What you try to do for these young men is remove the excuses to enable them to perform, I think as a club we do provide that”.
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