"Small steps, win your game and don't be too obsessed with what's happening elsewhere," Derek McInnes said before Rangers travel to Dundee. The point of the trip is plain enough for him. Rangers could go above Celtic to the Scottish Premiership summit with a win at Dens Park, but he wants the focus kept on the game itself and on a better 90 minutes than they managed against Kilmarnock.

Rangers' own standard

Rangers returned from the international break with a 3-1 win over Kilmarnock, and that kept their winning run alive at seven matches in all competitions. They are second in the Scottish Premiership with 19 points from 8 matches, and they have won their past seven matches overall. McInnes wants more than the result, though. After the second-half drop-off against Kilmarnock, he said, "We can't have the performance we had in the second half last week. The drop-off was too big, although there were maybe a lot of reasons for that."

He also made clear that the job is not about chasing outside noise. "The fact we're playing first this time around, I won't even mention putting pressure on an opposition. I'm more focused on the fight being with us to improve and just concentrating on getting another three points," he said.

Celtic, Dundee and the wider context

There is one reason the conversation keeps drifting toward the title race. Rangers can move above Celtic with a win, while Celtic are top on 21 points. The broader mood around Glasgow has been noisy too, with Celtic having lost four of their past five in all competitions, even if their league form is still WLWWW across the last five league matches.

Dundee will not be an easy placeholder on the calendar either. They sit fourth on 13 points from 8 matches, and their recent league form has included wins as well as setbacks. That makes this more than a routine away day, especially for a Rangers side that has scored 11 league goals and conceded 5 in 8 matches. McInnes' point is that the table will look after itself if the performance level rises. On current evidence, that is the sharper read. Rangers have the points, the run and the chance to move first, but the cleaner 90 minutes is still missing.

The two sides meet in Dundee vs Rangers on Saturday.

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