The former Ibrox captain advises the Light Blues players what to anticipate in a heated Premiership title campaign.

On September 30, I would have laughed if you had told me Rangers were just one win away from taking the top spot.

Four months ago, the team’s terrible start under Michael Beale made it seem unlikely. After a 7-point loss to Aberdeen, Steven Gerrard’s former assistant’s tenure ended. Things appeared gloomy.

And yes, privately, I did fear that the game was up for this season’s title bid. I was a big believer as a player that you always had to fight to the end, no matter if you were five, 10 or 15 points behind. But after watching that 3-1 defeat to the Dons at Ibrox, I was seriously worried about where Rangers were heading. However, this is where I think the Ibrox board deserve credit.

They could have rushed into an appointment and compounded one bad move in giving the gig to Beale with another. But this time they bought themselves a bit of time by bringing Steven Davis and Alex Rae in as caretakers and used the October international to do their homework on Philippe Clement. And so far, it’s paying off.

on Philippe Clement. And so far, it’s paying off.

The Viaplay Cup is in the bag and come Tuesday, they could be sitting at the Premiership summit looking down at the rest if they can produce a two-goal win over managerless Ross County. That would be an incredible achievement in itself considering the position the club was in when the new boss arrived. But if they think dragging themselves level has been tough, I have to warn them that it’s now when the real graft begins.

Rangers are right back in this title race but the reality of that is the mental pressure pressing down on the team is only going to multiply. Any slip up from this point on now has huge ramifications and you just don’t know how that will affect the team’s new-found confidence. I really think this race is going to go down to the wire and it’s going to be about who can hold their nerve, who can be the most consistent.

Listen, Celtic may be having a dip themselves at the moment and they certainly weren’t great at Easter Road. But they know how to win titles, so Rangers have got to go out with a single-minded focus every week. They can’t afford to wake up on a Saturday morning with a thought of, ‘Maybe they will drop points today’. No, you have to go out thinking they are going to win every week because that is what keeps your own mind concentrated on picking up results.

Rangers simply have to be mega-focused over the next three and a half months. They have to be zoned in and respectful of what Celtic can do. If Rangers make sure they look after one thing, and that is themselves, then they have a fantastic chance. But I have faith in this manager.

And so do the punters clearly. You can sense the trust and patience now from the stands even when the team is forced to battle their way through opponents like they did against Livi and Aberdeen. It’s clear what Phil’s done with the team.

He’s made Rangers more organised, more disciplined with every player clear on what’s expected of them.

And you can see the impact it’s having on the individuals. There were plenty of fans running out of patience with James Tavernier and Connor Goldson as another season seemed to be slipping away but both of the stalwarts are now back playing as well as ever. John Lundstram must be in the running for player of the year too with the way he’s returned to form.

Week after week he is dependable, controlling games from the centre of the pitch, proving himself a real leader. Then you have the likes of Leon Balogun, Ridvan Yilmaz, Cyriel Dessers and now Rabbi Matondo – who has two goals in the last two games. All of those guys have risen to the demands of the new manager and are contributing in a way you thought was beyond them only a few short weeks ago.

And then we have Todd Cantwell. I’ve written a lot about the Englishman in this column lately and right now he’s justifying what I’ve always thought about him. He’s a talent pure and simple but it’s about making sure you get him in the right areas to be effective. This week against Livingston and Aberdeen you saw him where I believe he’s at his most dangerous – playing centrally and high up the pitch.

And now he’s backed up his theory with goals. It’s five in the previous eight games, which is what you’d expect from the Rangers’ No. 10. He’s a game changer, and his strike against Aberdeen might be a huge goal at the end of the season. One of the few players who hasn’t had to lift his standards this season is Jack Butland.

According to yesterday’s Record Sport, the Ibrox number one has been offered a comeback to England. Gareth Southgate’s goalkeeper coach Martyn Margetson couldn’t have been more clear when he said “Jack is definitely on the radar,” which is excellent news for the big keeper – and great news for Rangers.

Since signing in the summer, he has been an absolute rock between the sticks. Given some of the saves he made early in the season, Clement could have inherited a worse-off squad. Now he has plenty of motivation to keep up his fantastic form and secure his position in Germany.

In my perspective, Jack is at least as excellent as Southgate’s available keepers, if not better. If you suggest otherwise, I’ll probably stare at you like you have horns growing out of your head.

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