No need to refresh Michael Beale on the very fine margins that make or break you in Glasgow, he's already done the maths.
The only number that really matters for Rangers isn't sitting well with their new manager. There are nine points between the Ibrox club and their rivals across the city, and he will know it may just take something spectacular to stop Celtic retaining the Premiership title from here.
Beale will have understood that assignment from the moment he returned to Rangers from QPR exactly a month ago, winning all three matches since the league resumed. It's something he believes his team haven't done enough of; putting together a sustained run of victories to really turn up the pressure on Ange Postecoglou's reigning champions.
Celtic, by contrast, have won 17 of their 18 outings so far, and Beale has told his players that, unless they can start posting such impressive numbers, then you're on a hiding to nothing in this part of the football world.
"The difference is nine points, but we’ve only played each other once and they won that game, deservedly," he said. "So, the difference should be three points, shouldn’t it? It should. We are six points behind against the other teams in the league, the other 10 that we play. That is the disappointing thing.
"If it just came down to Old Firms it would be more interesting, but you have to beat everybody else. That’s the key message. If the problem had been that we had only dropped points in that one game we would have a chance, on the second of January, to even it up. As it stands that ain’t going to be enough. We have to win all the other games. Unless we can go on a run of winning in big batches of games it is very hard to get to where we want to get in Scotland, full stop.
"It is very much us or Celtic every season when it starts so you have to beat everybody else and do well in the Old Firms, so for me both games are only worth three points. And the three points against Motherwell are the most important three points.
Beale revealed last week he had inherited a dressing room that had become a little too quiet for his liking, even if he understands why. Under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rangers had plummeted from the immense high of a Europa League final and long-awaited Scottish Cup win, to being pummelled 4-0 at Celtic Park and exiting the Champions League group stage with the worst record of any team in history.
For those reasons, Beale wasn't expecting a party when he walked back through the Ibrox doors. But he's aware that work must be done to mend fragile confidence, and he's leaning on his senior campaigners to help turn it around.
"When you come back in to a place a manager has lost his job and that manager had five or six staff, brought players in, and they worked together," the manager said. "They had an unbelievable experience getting to a European final beating teams like Dortmund and Leipzig. They were one kick away from…wow, for a Scottish team, being immortal.
"What an unbelievable achievement it would have been. They won the Scottish Cup together and were leading the league this time last year by six points, I believe. So, a lot happened with the last management team and I don’t think you come in and everyone is throwing a party that you are back. It doesn’t work like that. The confidence of the group is hit when a manager leaves. And I think you can see that in some of our performances.
"There are moments in games when I think we do some really good things and there are other moments where we look a little bit anxious or unsure. So, every day we can bring it a little bit more together. I’m trying to encourage the older players, the more experienced, to come out with their voices. I wouldn’t expect it from new players in the building, to be fair."
That process can continue when Motherwell visit Ibrox this evening, themselves fresh from a confidence-sapping collapse against 10-man Kilmarnock last week. Beale, however, expects that means Rangers will face a side desperate to right some wrongs.
"For me, it would be nice (to get a comprehensive win) but the key thing is to keep winning and tonight is a big opportunity for us," Beale said. "But Motherwell will make it difficult for us. They had a rough second half against Kilmarnock the other day and I’m sure they will be coming here aiming to make up for losing the two points they thought they had."
