Derek McInnes admits Rangers ace aggravated by key element despite 'superb' display as Ibrox backing delivered
Rangers were convincing winners in their latest Premiership outing.
Derek McInnes has backed Rangers’ Min-Su Kim after another standout Ibrox display - despite the star’s frustrations over goal contributions.
The summer signing from Girona again turned heads in Saturday’s 4-0 Premiership home win over St Johnstone but remains eight games without a goal or assist. He entered the clash seeking to get off the mark but left with efforts on goal that hit the post. Rangers manager McInnes was pleased with the playmaker’s work and insists he is piling pressure on himself to add to his numbers.
McInnes said: “It's the first thing he talks about when he hasn't scored and I'm trying to get him away from that. He's so desperate to score and do well. I think it's clearly annoying him that he's hit a couple of posts now, but his overall game and his threat were superb today. He's so willing. His counter-press is magnificent.
Derek McInnes on Kim min-Su
“His confidence in possession, his work rate and the quality he shows throughout the game are outstanding. Obviously, he doesn't get his goal. Bouanani got one last week, which was great, and Gassama got a brilliant assist today. Minsu did everything but score. I'm fortunate that we've got good wide players, but they know the importance of getting their numbers up and nobody feels that more than Minsu.”
On the game, McInnes said: “It is quite ironic in the sense that we were so brilliant in the first half and created so many opportunities, yet we were only a goal to the good at half-time. Obviously, we don’t want to let the frustration of those misses, missed opportunities and all that dominance filter into the second half. I think half-time came at a bad time for us because, despite the conditions, some of the play was really good.
“I asked the players to be brilliant, not just win the game. Can we really commit to being the best we can be and as good as we can be? I thought we were in the first half, but we're just looking for that reward. Everything was brilliant except the result at half-time because we should have been further in front. As I say, half-time came at a good time for St Johnstone because it let Simo Valakari correct a few things and make a few changes, although there wasn't any real change in shape for them.
Rangers 4-0 St Johnstone assessed
“It was a different approach. They played direct up to the big striker and could have switched play a bit quicker. We were just a wee bit slow to react to one or two opportunities. Listen, we have no divine right to expect a dominant performance for 90-odd minutes. St Johnstone are a good side in their own right and they're doing well. We had to come through that wee spell. We changed our back four slightly just to see that through.
“Then we got the second goal and, from there on in, it was quite straightforward. Ironically, we scored three goals in the second half when we weren't as polished and as clean with our work. Both of our strikers still contributed and Gassama created a brilliant opportunity for Tochi at the end. There are lots of learnings for us here, but getting your strikers scoring goals, keeping a clean sheet are all positives. It was a horrible day for everybody out there. It was just important that we won the game.”
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