Football supporters are a superstitious bunch, and Rangers supporters are no exception. They look for patterns in results, in line-ups and in the way a manager walks down the tunnel, because patterns are comforting when the alternative is uncertainty. Heading into Saturday’s visit of Kilmarnock to Ibrox, there is a pattern worth paying attention to, and it is the sort that should give Derek McInnes a genuine sense of confidence rather than just a warm feeling. Rangers arrive off the back of six consecutive wins, including back-to-back victories over Celtic, and the whole picture of the season looks very different from the one that was being painted barely a month ago.
The omen, if we want to call it that, is not a coincidence or a quirk of the calendar. It is the combination of momentum, belief and a squad that has begun to understand what its manager wants. Rangers have gone from jeers and a shock European exit to a position where they can go top of the Scottish Premiership for the first time this season. That would have sounded fanciful in the early weeks of the campaign. Now it is a realistic ambition, and the Kilmarnock match is the first opportunity to turn it into reality.
But omens only mean something if they are backed up by substance, and the danger of an international break is that it interrupts the very rhythm that created the omen in the first place. Three weeks without a league game is a long time for a team that has been building something. So the question that hangs over Saturday afternoon is simple: does the run survive the break, or does the break expose how fragile it really was? There are good reasons to believe the former, and the clearest of them tell us a great deal about the team McInnes has built.
To appreciate why the current run matters, it is worth remembering where Rangers started. McInnes took charge of a club that had just endured a difficult spell, and the first hundred days of his tenure were a rollercoaster. There was a large-scale overhaul of the playing squad, a sluggish start in the league and a failure to qualify for European football for the first time in a decade. The exit from Europe was painful, and it brought the sort of criticism that follows a club of Rangers’ size when it falls short. Jeers at Ibrox were not unfamiliar in those weeks, and the mood around the stadium was uneasy.
McInnes himself has not hidden from that. He has spoken about the scrutiny that comes with the job, and about the way criticism arrives quickly when results do not. At one point in the early weeks he was candid about being unhappy with a performance, and it was clear that the manager understood how much work lay ahead. The challenge was not just to win matches but to build a team out of a collection of new arrivals who had not played together before, in a league where every opponent wants to beat Rangers.
That context is what makes the recent run so striking. A group of players who were being questioned in August and September have won six in a row, beaten Celtic twice in the space of a week and moved to within two points of the league leaders. The turnaround has happened quickly, but it has not happened by accident. As Barry Ferguson put it, the winning streak came from hard graft and determination, from a group of players who dug themselves out of a hole and turned the season around after a difficult start.
The two Celtic matches were the centrepiece of that run, and they deserve more than a passing mention. The first was a 3-0 victory at Ibrox in the Premier Sports Cup, a match in which McInnes asked the home supporters to create a hostile atmosphere and to stay with the team through the difficult moments. With no Celtic fans allowed into the stadium, the home crowd carried a greater responsibility than usual, and it delivered. The result was emphatic, and it gave the manager a platform from which to demand more.
A week later came the league trip to Celtic Park, and a 1-0 win that arguably meant even more. McInnes described it as a thoroughly deserved three points and stressed how important it was in the context of the season. He pointed out that a defeat would have stretched the gap at the top to eight points at a very early stage, and that the win was therefore vital for closing the distance. He also made the point that it was important for a young squad to see that its approach worked, and to gain belief and confidence as a result.
There was something notable about the manner of those performances too. McInnes spoke about the attacking verve his side showed, and about the confidence the players carried onto the pitch. Former Rangers midfielder Ian Durrant, who played a part in the nine-in-a-row era, said he believed the performance at Celtic Park, as much as the result, suggested Rangers were beginning to find an identity. That matters because wins can be lucky, but identity is something that carries over from match to match.
Of course, derby wins carry emotional weight beyond the points. They generate belief, they win over supporters and they change how a squad sees itself. McInnes has been wise enough to acknowledge both sides of that. He has said that the confidence from a derby win is valuable but that it can change quickly, and that criticism will come again if results turn. That is a manager who understands that the benefit of a big win only lasts if it is followed up, and Kilmarnock is the first test of whether Rangers can do that.
International breaks have a reputation as momentum killers, and Barry Ferguson has made no secret of his dislike of the extended pause. Three weeks is a long time, and the fear is always that players return with injuries, or that the sharpness of a winning run dissolves in the downtime. Ferguson’s view is that the main thing Rangers need is for everyone to come back fit and ready, and that a short, clear reminder from the manager of what is expected can be enough to refocus the group.
But there is another way of looking at it. A total of thirteen Rangers players have been away on international duty, and Ferguson has pointed to that number as another sign that the club is moving in the right direction. Players who are performing well for their clubs tend to be selected by their countries, and the size of the Rangers contingent says something about the quality McInnes has assembled. It also means that those players have been playing competitive matches rather than sitting idle, which can help maintain sharpness.
Individual stories have emerged from the break, and some of them are encouraging. Striker Ryan Naderi made his Czech Republic debut against Spain and came close to scoring, before a goal was chalked off. Whatever the result, a player returning from a debut against the world champions is likely to bring a boost of confidence back to Ibrox. Naderi also scored the only goal in the win at Pittodrie earlier in the run, and McInnes was full of praise for him after the Celtic Park win, even though he had been a doubt beforehand because of an ankle problem. A player in that sort of form is exactly what a team wants heading into a match against opponents who are likely to be difficult to break down.
Another name worth noting is Findlay Curtis, who provided four assists in a single international match, all of them from the right wing. That kind of output is hard to ignore, and it raises the interesting possibility that McInnes could use him on the right against Kilmarnock, with Minsu Kim moving into a more central role. That would give Rangers two creative players in the final third, which is precisely what a team needs against a side that sits deep. Badredine Bouanani, meanwhile, is still adapting to the Scottish game, and the sensible approach seems to be to use him as an impact substitute until he is fully settled.
Kilmarnock are not a team to be underestimated. McInnes knows that better than most, having managed the club himself and taken them from the Championship to a position where they were competing for European qualification. He understands what makes them awkward, and he knows that a well-organised, hard-working side can frustrate a team that expects to dominate. They are likely to arrive at Ibrox with a low block and a plan to stay compact, to defend in numbers and to hit Rangers on the counter-attack if the opportunity arises.
Against that type of opponent, patience matters. Rangers cannot afford to become frustrated if the first half goes by without a goal, because that is exactly what a team defending deep wants. The challenge for McInnes is to find a way to create chances without becoming reckless, to use the width of the pitch and to bring the best out of the players who can find a pass or a shot in tight spaces. That is where creative players such as Curtis and Kim could prove valuable, and where the physicality of Naderi can help his team turn pressure into goals.
There is a tactical question too about how aggressive to be. McInnes has built a team that is young, quick and physical, and that has shown it can play with attacking intent. The average age of the side that beat Celtic in those two games was under 24, compared with closer to 27 for their rivals. That energy can be an enormous asset against a deep-lying opponent, but it also carries the risk of overcommitting. The best version of this Rangers team is one that combines enthusiasm with discipline, and Saturday offers a good chance to show that balance.
Perhaps the most important piece of context is what McInnes himself has said about the next stretch. He has challenged his players to be greedy, setting a target of maximising the points available up to the next international break. In that period Rangers have five league games and a Premier Sports Cup semi-final, and the manager wants his side to keep the winning run going for as long as possible. It is an ambitious message, but it is also a sensible one, because momentum is easier to maintain than to rebuild.
That message fits with his broader approach. McInnes has repeatedly emphasised the importance of staying focused on the next game rather than looking too far ahead. He has pointed out that Rangers have moved on from the Celtic matches and that the players must concentrate on getting the best performance they can in each fixture. That discipline will be tested on Saturday, when the temptation will be to assume that a win is inevitable because of the form of the previous weeks.
Barry Ferguson’s advice has been to keep things simple. Rather than overloading players with instructions after a break, he believes the manager should give them a few clear messages and trust them to execute. It is advice that fits McInnes’s character, and it is likely to appeal to a squad that is still getting to know each other. Complexity can be the enemy of confidence, and a straightforward plan can be the best way of preserving it.
It would be irresponsible to talk about omens without acknowledging the warnings that accompany them. Durrant, for one, has been careful not to get carried away. He has praised the confidence and cohesion he sees in the team, but he has also cautioned that it is far too early to talk about a title race. His blunt advice to anyone getting excited was to beware, a reminder that early-season form can be deceptive and that sustained success is built over months rather than weeks.
There are also practical concerns. A squad as young as this one can be brilliant one week and inconsistent the next. The same energy that makes it dangerous can also lead to lapses in concentration, and it will be tested over the winter months when the fixtures become more congested and the pitches heavier. McInnes has acknowledged that the criticism will return if results turn, and the supporters who have enjoyed this recent run will also be quick to voice their frustration if the team slips.
Injuries are another risk. With thirteen players away on international duty, there is always a chance that someone comes back with a knock. Naderi’s ankle was already a concern before the Celtic Park match, and it is the kind of thing that can flare up with a demanding schedule. The manager will be hoping that his key players return in good condition, and that the depth of the squad is enough to cope with any absences.
Having weighed the risks, there is still good reason to feel optimistic. The reason is not just the six wins, impressive as they are. It is the way those wins have been achieved. Rangers have shown the ability to grind out results when they are not at their best, to dominate when they are, and to handle the pressure of big matches. That adaptability is the mark of a team that is developing real character, and it is a more reliable foundation than a run of easy victories would have been.
The squad has also shown it can respond to adversity. The disappointment of the European exit could have derailed the season, but instead it appears to have focused minds. McInnes has used the extra time without midweek European fixtures to work on the group’s cohesion, and the benefits are visible. A settled defence, a balanced midfield and a front line that is scoring goals are the ingredients of a team that can sustain a challenge.
Then there is the manager himself. McInnes has experience of exactly this sort of situation, of taking a squad in transition and shaping it into something competitive. He knows the Scottish game inside out, he understands the demands of the job and he has shown the ability to adapt his approach when circumstances require it. His credibility with the players is growing, and the results are reinforcing it. That matters more than any superstition.
A victory over Kilmarnock would extend the winning run to seven games and could, depending on other results, take Rangers to the top of the table for the first time this season. That would be a significant psychological moment. It would remove any lingering doubt about whether the earlier results were a fluke, and it would add pressure on the teams around them. It would also set up the next stretch of fixtures with Rangers in control of their own destiny.
Equally, a slip would not be a disaster, but it would be an opportunity missed. The margin for error in a title race is small, and dropping points at home against a team that is expected to defend deep would invite the sort of criticism McInnes has warned about. The difference between a seven-game run and a stumble could shape the mood around the club for weeks.
That is why Saturday matters more than a routine league fixture would suggest. It is a test of whether Rangers can turn a good patch into a sustained run, and whether the lessons of the last few weeks are embedded in the squad. If the answer is yes, then the omen will have proved to be more than a feeling.
So should McInnes be confident? The honest answer is yes, but with eyes open. The evidence for optimism is substantial: a six-game winning streak, two derby wins, a young squad that is growing in belief and a manager who has been consistently clear about what he wants. The omen is real because it is built on performances, not just results, and because the players have shown they can win in different ways.
But confidence is not complacency. Kilmarnock will be organised and determined, the break will have disrupted routines and there is always a risk when a team is expected to win. The best way to honour an omen is to treat it as a reason to work harder rather than to relax. If Rangers approach the match with the same intensity and focus they showed against Celtic, they should have enough quality to find a way through.
Whatever happens at three o’clock on Saturday, the broader story is encouraging. A club that looked lost a few weeks ago now looks like a team with direction. If the omen holds, Ibrox will be roaring by the final whistle, and McInnes will have taken another step towards proving that this is a project worth believing in.
