Giovanni van Bronckhorst praises Rangers side as they head into winter break ‘in the place they want’ after St Mirren victory

Giovanni van Bronckhorst insists Rangers head into the winter break exactly where they want to be in the Premiership title race after a cruising to a 2-0 victory over St Mirren on Boxing Day.

The Light Blues recorded a tenth consecutive domestic win as goals from Scott Wright and Alfredo Morelos moved the Ibrox club six points clear at the top of the table heading into the two-week break.

Van Bronckhorst’s side peppered the Saints goal with 25 efforts on goal and the scoreline would have been greater had it not been for ex-Rangers goalkeeper Jak Alnwick who produced some outstanding saves.

The Dutchman was content with the winning margin and challenged his side to use their rest period to improve further as a squad.

He told Rangers TV: “Of course it’s the last game before the break and I’m happy with the performance. I think it was very controlled.

“It was very good defensively. We didn’t give any chances away - only in the last 10, 15 minutes when we lost the ball a little bit too fast.

“We created a lot of chances and the scoreline maybe needs to be more, but I’m happy with the win, happy with the zero, and we can go into the break in the place we want to be.

“We can have a good rest and start over again in two weeks. We have worked hard on things we wanted to see, no matter which team we play.

“The movement and passing was good. We had to change our set up a little in the second half because they had a different system, but the players reacted well and I’m really happy with that.

“It’s time to rest now. We start in the new year again so we have a good two weeks to prepare for the Aberdeen game, but also get our message across even more to the players about the way we want to play against different systems and situations so we have the time to get better.”

After holding Celtic to a 0-0 draw earlier in the week, St Mirren arrived in Govan without a win in their last ten games and they failed to pose any significant threat during the 90 minutes.

Van Bronckhorst added: “It is very difficult to play against a team who are so compact and sit deep. After the first goal they still kept playing defensively.

“In the second half I was pleased with the intention of my team even if they goal didn’t happen. The intention is the most important thing.

“We hit the post and had some chances. We could have scored some more but the intention was there for us to keep going and create chances and try to score more goals.

“It’s difficult to find the spaces which are very limited, but when you go ahead 1-0 with a set piece it’s very important.

“Sometimes you have to be a bit more patient and try to make them run a lot and create your own space.”