RANGERS were left in the dark in Portugal as their first friendly of the summer ended in farce and after just 45 minutes against Sunderland last weekend.
Seven days on, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side basked in the sunshine as victory over Blackpool saw the Light Blues step up their preparations for the new campaign.
Second half goals from Borna Barisic and Charlie McCann were enough to secure a routine win at Bloomfield Road and Premier League tests against West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur now lie ahead in the coming week.
A several-thousand strong travelling support got another look at striker Antonio Colak as he started for the second time following his move from PAOK and there were also debuts from the bench for John Souttar, Rabbi Matondo and Tom Lawrence.
Midfielder Malik Tillman watched on from the stands just hours after putting pen-to-paper on a move from Bayern Munich but there was no place in the squad for Calvin Bassey as he edges closer to an Ibrox exit this summer amid interest from Ajax and Brighton and Hove Albion.
Boss Van Bronckhorst still has plenty of work to do in the transfer market as Rangers count down to their Premiership opener at Livingston in a fortnight and prepare to discover their Champions League opponents when the draw for the third qualifying round is made on Monday.
But this was a pleasing afternoon at the office for the Dutchman as Rangers stepped it up after the break and cruised to a merited win on a day where the match minutes were more important than the performance or the result.
A sluggish opening 45 minutes was typical pre-season fare but Barisic opened the scoring with a lovely right-foot finish after 51 minutes as he cut in from the left and curled a fine effort beyond keeper Daniel Grimshaw.
Souttar, Ryan Kent and Matondo all came close to doubling the lead before midfielder McCann netted his first goal for the club with a low drive from the edge of the area.
Beryly Lubala reduced the lead with seconds to spare but the win was soon confirmed as Van Bronckhorst learned a bit more about his squad on the eve of the new season.
