Rangers manager Danny Rohl has called on his team to develop a sharper edge after their tense win over Hibernian.

The team secured a hard-fought victory at Ibrox, with Manny Fernandez scoring the decisive goal with a header in the first half. However, the overall performance left much to be desired.

Rohl, the German head coach, emphasized that accumulating victories is more crucial than the quality of play, especially as Rangers climb to third in the Premiership, remaining unbeaten in their last 11 league matches.

“I’m pleased with the team’s exceptional effort,” Rohl commented, noting missed opportunities by Youssef Chermiti and Djeidi Gassama that could have ensured a more comfortable win.

“It wasn’t always the most attractive football, but we’re learning how to win. It’s not just about playing beautiful, intricate football. Sometimes, it’s all about relentless effort,” he added.

Danny Rohl urged his men to become more clinical after watching the nervy win over Hibs

Much-maligned defender Emmanuel Fernandez celebrates the goal that secured victory

Fernandez scored with a fine first-half header after 35 minutes following a Dujon Sterling cross

Rohl highlighted the team’s defensive resilience, boasting five clean sheets, but expressed a desire for a more ruthless approach. “I’m content with the points, but there’s room for improvement. It’s a gradual process, and for me, it’s all about winning games,” he concluded.

‘I wish in the future that we use the open spaces from the opponent to kill them. I think this is also crucial, because then I can relax a bit more on the touchline.

‘The win was deserved, we played not every part of the game where you think “it’s amazing” but with clean sheets and being clinical in the moment, you deserve to win.

‘Hibs were organised, they tried to play behind our last line and, apart from minutes 10 to 25 when we lost a bit of control, we deserved to win the game.

Djeidi Gassama saw a second goal for Rangers late in the second half ruled out for offside

‘Results are the first thing, with them belief and confidence come and we’ll play more fluid. 

‘There’s still some moments we stopped and that’s where we have to improve.’

On preparing for Hearts at the weekend, Rohl confirmed that Bojan Miovski could be available after missing last night’s match with a slight knock.

‘Now it’s about recovering,’ he added. ‘It’s the first normal week since I’ve come here, with no midweek game.

‘We have to be brave, when we play forward instead of backwards, then I think we have more than enough quality to hurt all opponents in the league.

‘Let’s see. Hopefully we make it a good game, put all the effort in and everyone knows what’s in the game. It’s about three points, the next step, but it won’t decide the league. Let’s continue like this.’

Meanwhile, Hibs boss David Gray said: ‘There is real frustration because how we started, we asked players to be brave and start on front foot.

‘I thought we played well up until the final third and that was a theme of night – and that’s my biggest frustration because I know what’s in there and how dangerous we can be.

‘We got into good positions and our quality let us down.

‘Very rarely does creating chances elude this side and that’s the real frustration. We’ve not been outplayed or passed off the pitch or dominated.

Hibs boss David Gray was left frustrated at his side’s inability to take their chances at Ibrox

‘In terms of quietening the crowd and being on the front foot, up until we lost the goal, we were very comfortable and the better side. 

‘The goal we concede is very poor and we had a wee wobble after that.

‘Rangers were more aggressive in the second half and we didn’t have the answers. We gave up more chances towards the end by opening up rather than forcing Jack Butland into making saves.

‘The biggest thing I asked the players to do was to believe they could come here and go toe to toe with one of the best sides in the league and we did that.

‘There’s a lot to work on and work with but we have to quickly move on and work on the areas where we let ourselves down tonight.

‘We can be miles better than that and we’ve shown that before.’