Rangers manager Michael Beale has revealed how he roused his players into action after an error-strewn first-half showing against Hibs.
Goals from Ryan Poreteous and Kevin Nisbet either side of Fashion Sakala's strike had the men from Leith 2-1 up at the break at a deathly cold Ibrox.
Rangers' makeshift defensive duo of John Lundstram and James Sands struggled to cope as Lee Johnson's men got stuck in with a direct and aggressive approach up until the end of the first half.
And while Beale admits some nerves, his 15-minute reset in the Ibrox dressing room proved to be decisive in firing his men back to life and a much-improved display would follow with goals from Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos sealing victory.
He said: "We had a nice chat at half-time and organised a few things. They listened, they went out and they played much more like I want them to play in the second half, dominating the game. We equalised then scored a fantastic goal. That's how I want to see us play, counter-pressing then combination play. Great pass from Tavernier, lovely feet from Tillman and obviously Morelos is delighted with that.
"At half-time, I told them to just stop for a minute. I said 'I know the anxiety with everything that's gone on in the last few weeks. Let's stop and get the style right. Lets play closer together. Let's not overthink. Let's play fast football and counter-press hard and if we get the next goal the stadium will pick up and we will go on and win the second half 2-0'. They did it. We weren't winning first balls in the first half. It's difficult, we know we have centre-halves missing and the two boys are doing their best for the team. We have to improve in the duels and play closer together and we did that."
Beale knows his team are far from the finished article on tonight's evidence, despite showcasing some genuine attacking menace in blasting back to win the game.
He said: "I know I have a job on and to be fair to the boys they know they have a job on to get back to the standards we have had previously. You saw everything tonight, there was a little bit anxiety in the air, certainly in the crowd and on the pitch. It didn't look anything like the way we wanted it to.
"That just shows you a game at the weekend like Leverkusen where there’s not the three points on it, everyone relaxes and plays. Tonight I saw a different type of performance but in the second half they got the job done. I think if you look at the statistics of the game we were worthy winners and outside the two goals, Allan’s not had much to do. It was disappointing to concede twice, we need to clean up on that and we will do. When we have all of our defenders available, which won’t be too far away, I think then you’ll see a stronger defensive performance."
Connor Goldson and Ben Davies's return to the starting line-up in the coming weeks and months is a development sure to deliver that, but Beale wasn't going to gamble on starting players who aren't yet ready for the rigours of first team action.
He explained: "Connor’s trained for two days in seven weeks, Ben’s trained for three days. I’ve got to be careful here, we have a lot of big matches coming up. I felt after the performance at the weekend I could get through it."
But the Ibrox injury list doesn't show many signs of easing with Beale revealing Antonio Colak and Leon King missed the game due to issues.
He revealed: "Unfortunately, Leon King was sick this morning so that changed our plans and John had to drop back there and we lost Colak yesterday afternoon to a tight calf and we didn’t want to take a risk. The last 24 hours have been far from ideal. I’m delighted to take the three points."
