Rangers have gone from looking loose and exposed to looking controlled, and the clearest sign is the defensive record. They have conceded just once in their last six games, after keeping only one clean sheet in their first seven this season. That swing has come with back-to-back Old Firm derby wins and a side that now looks much more settled under Derek McInnes.

McInnes's new shape

The structure has changed as much as the results. Dujon Sterling is being used at right-back, with Emmanuel Fernandez and Olwethu Makhanya inside him and James Penrice pushing on from left-back, which gives Rangers a narrower, more compact base and more cover when the full-backs step on.

McInnes said, "My midfield were terrific again" and added, "We look far more calm, far more settled in everything that we're doing. The players deserve so much credit for that." Those comments match the way Rangers have started to win games: not by chaos, but by control, duels and a block that is harder to break down.

The derby run and what it has changed

The derby wins have done more than ease the mood. Rangers won at Celtic Park in the league after last Sunday's derby win at Ibrox in the League Cup, and they have now won six straight games. The gap to Celtic is down to two points, while McInnes is the first Rangers manager since Graeme Souness to win his first two derbies.

Andy Halliday's view also tracks the shift. After saying earlier that "it doesn't look like a Derek McInnes team," he said: "How that narrative has completely changed over the last three, four weeks. That for me is a Derek McInnes team, what we watched today." That is hard to argue with when Rangers have allowed only two goals across their last five listed matches and Celtic managed just one shot on target at home.

Dujon Sterling's role fits the same pattern. He has only four appearances and 363 minutes this season, but his 7.2 season rating points to a player doing a specific job well rather than just filling space.

Derek McInnes is not getting carried away, and he should not. "There's a lot of growth in the team," he said, and the fixtures ahead will show how far this version can travel. Right now, though, Rangers have a tighter shape, a calmer midfield and the kind of derby control that was missing earlier in the season.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →