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.
It was during an answer about the fine margins in the game - as Malik Tillman saw a shot blocked at 2-1 and Celtic scrambled home a late equaliser just minutes later - that Beale addressed the bigger picture. Four wins from as many fixtures over Hibernian, Aberdeen, Ross County and Motherwell had kept Rangers in touch but the target had to be five on the spin and the failure to achieve that goal has made the ultimate ambition harder to attain.
"We are no further away than we were five games ago," Beale said as a Ryan Kent strike and James Tavernier penalty were not enough to continue his perfect start as boss and see Rangers lay down a marker of their intentions in the second half of the season. "The points are the same. There’s 18 games to play.
"It is Celtic’s to throw away in terms of the league but in terms of our mentality and where we are I think we are one or two steps ahead than we were a few weeks ago but we need to be ten more."
Victory on Monday afternoon would have reignited the title race. As it stands, Rangers' hopes of reclaiming the crown this term are flickering and the best they can do, for now at least, is to ensure that they are not extinguished for some time to come.
Ben Davies, the Rangers defender, highlighted the fact that there is still 'a long way to go' in the Premiership this term and Rangers can take heart from the knowledge that six potentially defining points are still up for grabs in the remaining Old Firm fixtures. While it is still mathematically possible, Rangers can never concede the title publicly or privately.
There is no doubt that Monday was a missed opportunity, though. It was a must-win fixture and the sense of deflation in the aftermath of a draw that was a fair outcome on the day told its own story as Rangers came to terms with the reality of their situation.
The issues are twofold. Right now it is difficult to see where, when the Old Firms are taken out of the equation, Celtic squander the handful of points required to give Rangers hope in the Premiership. And it is hard to make an argument that suggests Beale's side are capable of winning each of the 18 fixtures remaining to make the most of any Celtic slip-ups.
There have been signs of progress during the first month of Beale's tenure and Rangers will be a very different proposition in another four weeks or so as the walking wounded return to action and the Ibrox board prepare to sanction the first transfer deals of a new regime.
Time is what Beale needs but that commodity is in short supply. The Rangers he has inherited is far removed from the ruthless, relentless side that he helped guide to 55 alongside Steven Gerrard and the process of returning the squad and the team to that position was never going to be an overnight fix.
Victory over Dundee United this weekend is non-negotiable in terms of the Premiership. It is the two cup ties either side of a trip to Kilmarnock that stand out in this next tranche of matches, however, and the importance of both cannot be understated for Beale.
The failure to lift more silverware was the black mark on the records of Gerrard and his staff as they left Ibrox with a league medal and European memories. That experience and those criticisms will surely be at the forefront of Beale's mind over the next couple of weeks.
Aberdeen were familiar foes in cup competitions during that time and the Dons stand between Beale and the Viaplay Cup final. The following weekend, St Johnstone - the side that beat Rangers in the Scottish Cup during the 55 season - will have another upset in their sights.
Both ties are, of course, more than winnable. In reality, failure is not an option in either as Rangers attempt to salvage their season in terms of silverware and give themselves a proper platform upon which to build heading into Beale's first full term in charge.
Any term that ends without the Trophy Room doors being opened has to be condemned as a failure at Ibrox and Beale needs tangible signs of progress to back up what supporters are seeing and to reaffirm to players, both current and incoming, that Rangers are indeed on a positive trajectory after failing to capitalise on 55 and Seville in recent seasons.
Beale can complete part of that process in the Premiership. Even if Rangers are ultimately not crowned as champions, a sustained challenge would be a positive to take and would go some way to alleviating whatever doubts supporters have over Beale as boss.
Silverware would expedite that process. Winning the title in 2021 was not about stopping ten-in-a-row for Celtic and preventing a Treble by winning the cups this time around is a not a motivation for a Rangers side that needs to win for itself and for its fans.
Denying Celtic would be a by-product of success for Rangers and two medals changes the narrative and the dynamic as Beale attempts to shift the balance of power back across Glasgow. Derby wins do that, but honours are the only currency that really matters in the battle for Old Firm supremacy.
Ending the season empty-handed cannot be contemplated and Beale would surely be open and honest about that too. Time will tell if he has to front up to that particular question or not.
