GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST savoured a 'big win' over Hibernian as Rangers moved seven points clear of Celtic at the top of the Premiership.

A late Kemar Roofe penalty was all that separated the sides at Easter Road on a night where the champions were far from their best.

Van Bronckhorst now has three wins from three matches as manager following successes over Sparta Prague and Livingston last month.

And the Dutchman was pleased to see Rangers get their rewards in the end as a clean sheet and Roofe's strike earned a hard-fought but deserved three points.

Van Bronckhorst said: “It was a very big win. It was a tough game as we expected before kick-off. The game showed that it was really close.

“There was a lot of physical play from both teams and not many chances. But we’ll take the win and it’s three more points for us.

“The game was decided by transition moments. In the first half, we had some good moments to score. There was a great chance for Morelos.

“In the second half, you could see when we won the ball we had the spaces to attack.

“However, we weren’t too sharp in those moments and we gave a lot of loose balls away.

“So we had those transition moments to defend as well.

“But those moments were there for both teams but luckily for us we came away with the win.

"It’s always good to come to places like Hibs away, it’s a tough opponent and they’re a good side, very well organised.

"So to keep a zero here is massive for us because we knew we would always get chances. Today we scored from a penalty and after that we controlled the game with the substitutions.

"I put in Lundstram so defensively after that we were very solid. I am very pleased with the win.”