The answer did not need to be teased out of Michael Beale. Instead, it was offered up without probing or questioning as Beale was as frank and honest as those who have witnessed him in front of the cameras have come to expect over the last month or so.
The admission was case of stating the obvious, but it still needed to be put in public as Beale laid out just where Rangers are in the Premiership title race. Beale has been careful with his words and messages regarding those aspirations and the aftermath of the draw with Celtic was not the moment to change course in that regard.
Title talk has naturally been a theme of Beale's first weeks in charge but the rhetoric coming from within Ibrox has been realistic. Rangers are well aware of the predicament that they have put themselves in this season and they have nobody to blame but themselves for the nine point deficit that appears insurmountable at the top of the table.
