Rangers' remarkable run of form in the Scottish Premiership continued as they beat Kilmarmock 3-1 at Ibrox on Saturday.

After starting the season by taking one point from matches against Dundee United and Hibernian, there would have been fears of a repeat of the 2025-26 season, where Rangers eventually finished third despite being genuine title challengers when the league split happened.

However, with no European football as a potential distraction, Derek McInnes has now led the Light Blues to six successive league victories, and they lie in second position and two points behind leaders Celtic.

Rangers also beat their Old Firm rivals 3-0 in the Scottish League Cup, and they currently have double bragging rights having beaten the Bhoys 1-0 at Celtic Park in the league seven days later.

Dan Neil scored twice and captained the team in the former fixture, and he is proving to be an amazing signing for McInnes and the club.

Rangers pulled off a huge coup when they won the race to get the 24-year-old on a free transfer after he left Sunderland following the expiry of his contract, beating the likes of Southampton and Middlesbrough to his signature.

Neil is a leader and is experienced, with almost 150 English Championship appearances to his name, and he has slotted seamlessly into the Rangers midfield, captaining the club in their previous three league matches.

He has formed a strong partnership with Nicolas Raskin in the Light Blues' engine room in recent weeks, and there is no doubt that they have the makings of being a formidable duo for McInnes this season.

While the signing of Neil has been transformative, the addition of Ryan Naderi earlier this year has been even more important after what has happened in recent weeks.

Naderi Has Been Vital to Rangers' Success

Having made a bad start to the season and losing Youssef Chermiti to an ACL injury, things didn't look good for Rangers.

The Light Blues did have prolific Scottish Premiership goalscorer Lawrence Shankland in their ranks though, and McInnes was relying on his former captain at Hearts to step up and find the net regularly in Chermiti's absence.

However, the Scotland international then suffered a hamstring tear that could keep him out for four months, which put big pressure on the club's other attackers with the summer transfer window already shut when the severity of Shankland's injury was confirmed.

Attentions turned to the likes of Kevin Kelsy and Ryan Naderi to provide the goals in the absence of Shankland and Chermiti, and the latter has duly delivered in recent weeks to lead the club's charge up the Scottish Premiership table.

Danny Rohl said at the time of his signing in the January transfer window that he expected Naderi to contribute in terms of goals and assists, but he only scored once between then and the end of the season in the league.

It has been a different story in recent weeks, with six goals and three assists in 12 appearances in all competitions proving to be priceless.

Rangers fans and McInnes would understandably have been worried that their season could completely derail without either Chermiti or Shankland being available, but instead Naderi has taken his opportunity and provided the goals he was brought to the club by Rohl to do.

The Czechia international has kept Rangers' season alive when it could have so easily gone further south, and he is now showing why he is one of their most important signings in years.