Rangers returned to winning ways with a 4-0 thumping of St Johnstone at Ibrox

Derek McInnes says Rangers answered his call for excellence as they delivered an impressive performance in a comprehensive four-goal victory over St Johnstone.

Goals from Kevin Kelsy, who netted twice, along with efforts from Ryan Naderi and Tochi Chukwuani ensured the Ibrox side bounced back from their stalemate at Dundee, closing the gap on table-toppers Celtic to just a single point.

McInnes expressed his satisfaction with how his squad responded to his challenge to produce their finest football following a frustrating result at Dens Park the previous weekend.

He said: "It's quite ironic that we were so good and so brilliant at times in the first half by creating so many opportunities that we were only a goal to the good at half-time. We didn't want the frustration of those missed opportunities and dominance filter into the second half and half-time came at a bad time for us."

McInnes continued: "Despite the conditions, some of the play was very good, I asked the players to be brilliant today and not to just win the game. I asked them to really commit to being the best they can be and I thought we were in the first half. I could have stated the obvious at half-time and said we could have been more ruthless.

"Everything was brilliant except the result at half-time, we should have been more in front but half-time came at a good time for St Johnstone. it allowed Simo Valakari to correct a few things and make a few changes. It was a different approach from them as they went a bit more direct up to their big striker and we were a bit slow to react to one or two opportunities.

"We have no Devine right to get a ninety minute dominant performance as St Johnstone are a good side in their own right so we had to come through that wee spell and we changed to a back four just to see that through and we got the second goal and from then on it was quite straight forward.

"It was ironic that we scored three goals in the second half when we weren't just as polished or as clean in our work but our two strikers still contributed and Djeidi Gassama has created a brilliant opportunity for Tochi to score at the end.

"We scored three goals in a second half when we weren't so good, in the first half we were completely dominant, we were very, very good and only scored once. There are lots of learnings for us there but to get your strikers scoring goals, keeping a clean sheet and get another win chalked off in what was a horrible day when it was just about hoping to win the game."

McKinnes was thrilled to see Tuur Rommens return to the pitch as a second-half substitute following an 11-week spell on the sidelines through injury, describing it as a welcome boost, reports the Daily Record.

He said: "The point today was to try and Tuur some minutes and I wanted to get Ben Godfrey some minutes as he trains every day as though it's his last. I can't please everybody and it's a juggling act if I am being honest but players need to earn their right to play.

Rangers now face a trip to Hearts on Wednesday night and it's a first visit to Tynecastle for McKinnes since his switch to Ibrox but he doesn't want that to become the story.

He said: "A lot will be made of me going back there but Hearts have such a strong home record. We went last season unbeaten at home and there's a reason that. Hearts fans get behind their team and it's a tough venue to have to go to at the best of times.

"It's all about the game and once it starts we need to make sure we bring a big performance and we are looking forward to the challenge."