At some point, Rangers will surely discover their best form under Derek McInnes.
For now, however, they are more than content to keep collecting points. The manner in which those points arrive matters far less than the results themselves.
This battling victory in Paisley followed the pattern of so many of Rangers’ Premiership successes this season: it was built on substance rather than style.
There were occasional glimpses of quality, but the defining feature was their willingness to handle the less glamorous aspects of the game. Thankfully for McInnes, his players are becoming increasingly effective at doing exactly that.
It is a valuable quality to possess. Rangers showed it in last month’s draws at Dundee and Hearts, escaping with something from matches in which they could easily have left empty-handed.
With Celtic proving impossible to predict from one week to the next, Rangers’ task is simple: remain within touching distance of the leaders — one point ahead before their meeting with Kilmarnock this afternoon — until the sides meet again in the new year.
Rangers captain Neil sees his effort take a deflection and put his side two goals ahead
Rangers made an aggressive start and immediately pinned St Mirren back. The hosts struggled to get a foothold in the opening exchanges, while the rare possession they did win was surrendered too cheaply.
Badredine Bouanani registered the first attempt after six minutes, cutting in from the right before shooting from 20 yards. The effort was too tame to seriously trouble Saints goalkeeper Jacob Chapman.
Chapman needed to be much sharper five minutes later, producing an excellent reflex save to prevent Ryan Naderi from converting Kevin Kelsy’s headed knockdown. The in-form Czech looked certain to score.
Emmanuel Fernandez then headed over from the corner that followed.
After weathering the early pressure, St Mirren handed Rangers the chance to break the deadlock when Samuel Ramos brought down James Penrice on the edge of the Buddies’ penalty area.
The contact looked minimal, but VAR quickly backed referee Nick Walsh’s decision.
Naderi took responsibility and made no mistake at the second attempt, calmly rolling the penalty into the bottom corner for his ninth goal in all competitions this season.
The 23-year-old appeared destined to leave Ibrox during the summer, yet he has now become one of the first names on McInnes’ team sheet.
Penrice goes down after Ramos’ challenge to win Rangers a first-half penalty
Perhaps most encouraging for Rangers is that Naderi remains some distance from reaching his full potential. If he continues to play with this level of confidence, improvement should follow.
He helped launch a slick counter-attack shortly after the half-hour mark, with the ball eventually reaching Kim Min-su on the penalty spot. The South Korean hesitated over his shot, allowing the opportunity to disappear.
When he drives at defenders at full speed, the 20-year-old is a joy to watch in the No10 position.
Few players in the country are as adept at finding space between the lines and receiving the ball on the turn. Yet while there is plenty to admire, his judgement at crucial moments still requires refinement.
An awful pass out from Olwethu Makhanya presented the hosts with a two-v-two situation before the interval, but Ramos struck straight at Ivor Pandur from inside the box. With the entire goal available, the Spaniard should have done considerably better.
Jake Young was similarly wasteful a minute later, firing high and wide from a promising position.
Min-su congratulates Naderi after the forward gives Rangers the lead from the penalty spot
Despite Rangers’ control, their advantage never felt entirely safe because of their habit of occasionally inviting pressure through mistakes of their own.
Fernandez is the most frequent offender. His recovery speed often rescues him, and it proved valuable again on more than one occasion here.
A superb pass from Bouanani sent the ball into Min-su’s path inside the area in the 47th minute. Under intense pressure, though, the midfielder could not beat Chapman, who had raced from his line to close the angle. On this occasion, Min-su could hardly be blamed.
Chapman was called upon again moments later, denying Kelsy from close range after the Venezuelan shook off his marker to run on to Min-su’s pass.
Kelsy then sent a shot wide at the far post after Nico Raskin delivered an inviting ball from the right. It was a frustrating evening in front of goal for the Rangers striker.
To his credit, Kelsy continued to work hard and played a central part in Rangers’ second goal just after the hour. His powerful run unsettled the Buddies’ defence, and when the ball broke loose, captain Dan Neil swept it into the bottom corner via a substantial deflection that left Chapman helpless.
St Mirren substitute Eseosa Sule almost pulled one back with his first touch, finding himself unmarked at the far post to meet Declan John’s cross.
The ball seemed certain to cross the line, but Pandur produced a remarkable full-stretch save to turn it around the post.
Pandur’s arrival went relatively unnoticed during the summer, but the Croatian has repeatedly shown that he can deliver when it matters most. Rangers are likely to gain plenty of points from his performances between now and the end of the campaign.
McInnes applauds the travelling supporters after Rangers finish the pre-international break with a victory
St Mirren arrived having won only once in their previous eight matches, but their display hardly suggested a team short of belief. They committed everything to the contest in search of a result.
The Saints created openings, with Luke Thomas forcing Pandur into a save from distance before Calvin Ramsay’s follow-up header struck the post.
That proved to be as close as St Mirren came, with Rangers standing firm to secure an unattractive but ultimately deserved away victory.
Rangers will have to improve considerably, and show that improvement more regularly, if they are to lift the Premiership title in May. But that is a challenge for another day.
The pressure is now on Celtic.
