The late winner from Bojan Miovski gave Rangers a stoppage-time escape against ST Mirren, but Derek McInnes was far more focused on what still needs fixing. Miovski struck in the 90+1 minute, Rangers extended their winning run to four games in the Scottish Premiership, and the result moved them above St Mirren into second.

McInnes said after the match: "If you strip it back, six wins out of seven, four straight wins." He added: "We have not lost a goal apart from an own goal." The mood around the result was relief as much as anything else, and that is fair enough given how late the breakthrough arrived.

McInnes keeps the focus on the performance

The bigger point from McInnes was the gap between the result and the display. "There are obviously loads we have to improve on, but we have to meanwhile keep winning and we have to keep improving if we are to achieve anything this season," he said, and he also admitted St Mirren had a 20-minute spell in the second half when they were better.

That fits the pattern of Rangers' recent run. They have won four straight in the league, and the late goal also keeps them unbeaten in five home games, with four of those home wins coming since losing to Hibernian last month. It has not been a run of free-flowing dominance, though. Four of their wins have come by a single goal since beating St Mirren 5-1 at Ibrox a month ago in the League Cup.

Miovski's late goal changes the conversation

Miovski's finish matters because of when it came. Hundreds of home fans had already headed for the exits before the winner, and the reaction inside Ibrox changed fast once the ball went in.

There is also the individual angle. Andy Halliday said on BBC that Miovski "looked like he was out of the picture two or three weeks ago and it looked like he was going to be on his way in the transfer window, but he's come up with a massive goal." He added: "He's certainly more in the picture after a goal like that."

McInnes did not go that far, and that feels like the right balance. Miovski has only one Premiership appearance this season and has played just 10 minutes, so the goal does not suddenly make him central to everything. It does, though, buy him a better argument heading into Sunday's Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Martin O'Neill's side, before Rangers visit Celtic Park in the league a week later.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →