Derek McInnes handed Rangers 'godsend' but number of youngsters leaves him Celtic puzzle to solve

It is why the spotlight ahead of Sunday’s first derby of the season against Celtic falls upon the Rangers frontline, even in the midst of a four-game winning run in the Premiership.

Each of those matches has been secured by a one-goal margin. It is not that Rangers haven’t created chances in the 1-0 wins over Aberdeen, Motherwell and St Mirren, or the 2-1 victory over Falkirk. It is that they haven’t taken enough of them.

Since defeating the Buddies 5-1 in mid-August to set up this Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at home to Celtic, Rangers’ past six games have been settled by a goal. Against Jablonec in the Conference League, Rangers paid the price for not putting the tie to bed at Ibrox and being vulnerable in the Czech Republic. The feeling is that McInnes’ side could have posted more comfortable victories.

Six goals in six games is not a strong enough attacking return for a Rangers team. McInnes knows this. His cause is not helped by the fact that striker and club captain Lawrence Shankland, who netted four of them - two from the penalty spot - is out until at least December with a torn hamstring. Youssef Chermiti is probably sidelined for the season with an ACL rupture as well.

“One goal was enough last night, one goal was enough against Motherwell, two goals were enough against Falkirk and one goal was enough against Aberdeen but it might not be against Celtic,” mused McInnes in his pre-match press conference on Thursday. “So we've got to recognise and be ruthless and more instinctive with some of our attacking players.”

McInnes has options - albeit many of them are callow. Kevin Kelsy, signed for £9 million, is 22-years-old, as is fellow No 9 Ryan Naderi. Playmaker Kim Minsu is 20, while the wingers are Djeidi Gassama (23), Badredine Bouanani (21) and Findlay Curtis (21). Some of these players are very talented, but consistency in terms of returns can be hard to find at this stage of their careers.

McInnes takes heart from the creativity aspect of his team. Now it’s about finding more lucidity and composure in front of goal for two matches against Celtic in the space of a week.

Rangers playing well as search for more returns continues

“I think it's important that we take a lot of the good from recent performances, but we've got to capitalise on that,” continued McInnes. “We're very young at the forward line when you look at us there. I do think sometimes that last pass, that last decision, that last shot is something we need to take care of a wee bit more.

“I think we're arriving there time and time again, which has been a huge improvement in the last few games. I think we're showing our ability to create chances, our ability to cause teams problems. But what we need to show is our ability to finish off good opportunities and chances which can, again particularly in a game like this where you can get the crowd into it, bring as much stress to your opponent as possible if you get these chances.”

For the majority of Rangers’ team that takes to the field against Celtic, this will be their first taste of a fixture like the Old Firm derby. “I think you can maybe speak about it in anticipation of the game and you can maybe show them clips of games and everything that unfolds with it,” said McInnes, “but sometimes these boys have just got to live it and enjoy it and thrive on it.

“I think for any young player these are the types of games you want to play in and test yourself and Sunday will be a fantastic atmosphere. I do think for a lot of new signings, having a significant win against your biggest rivals in a cup tie can only do them good going forward and the feel-good factor from that that any cup win and cup run can do but particularly against your local rivals. I think the feel-good factor and the benefit you can get from that could be massive.”

McInnes is unlikely to deviate from a 4-2-3-1/4-4-2 set-up. In the forward areas, Gassama appears the most likely winger to start, and McInnes will have to decide upon whether Curtis or Bouanani gets the other spot on the right flank. Daisuke Yokota won’t feature due a groin issue. Centrally, McInnes could either go with two strikers, or play Kim in the No 10 role. The latter feels a more likely outcome.

So who leads the line as a No 9? Kelsy is only two games into his Rangers career, while Naderi scored the winner against Motherwell and assisted Miovski for the strike against St Mirren. The German is a safer bet than the Venezuelan.

However, Miovski may have put himself into the limelight with his goal on Wednesday. His dinked finish was a smart piece of skill at a critical point of the match. It was the sort of nerveless finishing that McInnes will crave in one of the most pressurised environments of them all. The North Macedonian appeared to be on his way out of Rangers earlier this season. Now he could lead the line in an Old Firm match.

“He's feeling good about himself, bounced into the club this morning,” said McInnes, “but he's always a positive boy anyway. He's been good as gold since we've been in and when we did come into the club, I thought we were fortunate to have someone that has prowess, has experience, has know-how of Scottish football.

“His goals per minute, is really strong in the Scottish Premier League [sic] and for a long period through that transfer window he probably thought he would have to go elsewhere to get regular football but such is the way things change in football with Youssef and Lawrence's long-term injury then having Bojan in the building is a godsend for me and something that he should take a lot of encouragement for now between now and the end of the season. Hopefully he can go and have a big impact for us.”

If he gets the chance, against Celtic would be the ideal place to do it.