THE main thing that I took from the game with St Mirren the other night was that it was three points for Rangers. And that will always be the most important thing for us.

We all remember the first league game back after the break last season where we went to Kilmarnock and got beat and ruined the good work of winning the Old Firm tie.

So going out and beating St Mirren fairly comfortably and getting back up and running in the Premiership was a positive for Steven Gerrard.

He won't be too upset if there are a few moans and groans amongst some of the supporters at the fact that the win wasn't more emphatic in terms of the scoreline at Ibrox.

It is only a few weeks since we turned in a terrific performance in the Betfred Cup final but lost and were left empty-handed. So you take the three points and you move on.

We all know that Rangers can play better than they did against Jim Goodwin's side but it is not as easy as turning up and beating teams by two, three or four and you have to give St Mirren credit for the way they defended their box.

I am certainly not worried by the performance and I am sure the manager won't be either.

There were times when the passing could have been a bit quicker and we could have been more clinical. If you were going to be critical, you would say Rangers weren't slick enough at times.

The goal was typical Jermain Defoe. The ball came in from Borna Barisic into a good area and Jermain's movement ensures he is in the right place at the right time.

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He sticks it away really well and that is what he is all about. That is what he offers the team and on a night when he didn't have many chances he made sure he took one that proved to be the difference.

Rangers are going to have to get used to facing teams that have that defensive setup over the next couple of weeks, especially at Ibrox. Teams will come and park the bus and look to frustrate Rangers for as long as possible.

If they get into the last ten minutes level or just a goal behind, as St Mirren did on Wednesday night, they then have a go and have a chance of nicking something from the game in the closing stages.

If you are Jim Goodwin, you are not going to come to Ibrox and go for it. If you do that, Rangers exploit the spaces and can give you a sore one.

You just have to accept that is how teams are going to line-up against us at this stage.

It is murder to watch and the fans - who turned up in huge numbers once again - are expecting a bit of entertainment at Ibrox.

You are not going to get an entertaining game when one team wants to win and the other doesn't, though.

I am not blaming St Mirren or anyone else that approaches it that way. They have got to look after themselves and if they had gone away with a point then they would have been absolutely delighted.

All Rangers can do is look after themselves. It is not going to be pretty at times but you just have to get the job done on nights like that.

It was a wee bit fraught at the end when St Mirren had a corner and there is always a chance the break of the ball can go against you and you lose a goal when you have completely dominated.

But Rangers got the job done and they will take the points and move on to the trip to Tynecastle this weekend.

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That will be a very different challenge for Steven and the players and you would imagine that Hearts would be a bit more open and attacking.

Given their position in the league and the feelings of the fans there, they need to win games, not try and grind out a point, especially at home.

Rangers' form away from Ibrox has been excellent this season and hopefully they can continue that and make amends for the two points that they dropped in Gorgie earlier in the campaign.

The players will have learned a lot from last season when they didn't do enough to challenge for the title. Now, we are right in there and every win, or every dropped point, is going to be so important.

Rangers have to grab that opportunity with both hands and keep racking up the wins week after week after week.

The same will apply on Sunday as it did on Wednesday night. Of course you want to play well and put in a performance, but all that really matters is winning.

Rangers didn't do enough to do that away to Hearts last time and the manager won't allow the levels to drop like they did that day as we prepare for another huge game.