Rangers sit four points behind second-placed Celtic in third.
Ally McCoist has told Sky Sports that Rangers still have an awful long way to go before catching Old Firm rivals Celtic and mounting a Scottish Premiership title charge, despite improvement under Steven Gerrard.
Rangers earned their second league away win of the season over St. Mirren on Saturday, pushing them into third place and behind Celtic. The Hoops smashed leaders Hearts 5-0, and are now just a point off the top with a game in hand.
It seems inevitable that Celtic are to return to the summit of the Scottish Premiership sooner rather than later, while Gerrard and Rangers are doing their utmost to keep pace. They sit four points off the Hoops after 11 league games.
Former Rangers manager and all-time Gers record goalscorer McCoist bemoaned his former side’s disappointing away form, and does not believe that there is enough to challenge Celtic for the title.
“They lost four points in the last couple of minutes at Aberdeen – where they probably should have held on – and Motherwell, who probably deserved something from the game,” McCoist said.
“The away form hasn’t been as solid as the home form, but there has been a marked improvement in the level of performance, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.
“Has there been enough improvement to go and challenge to win the league? No I don’t think so but I didn’t think there ever would be in the first season. I think that would naturally take time.”
In 25 league and cup appearances since taking over at Ibrox, Gerrard has tasted defeat just three times – one to Celtic, one to newly-promoted Livingston but perhaps most disappointingly, a loss to Aberdeen in the League Cup semi-final.
It has been much better in Europe where Gerrard’s side have gone 11 games unbeaten and sit top of Group G. However, they face perhaps their biggest test on Thursday, as they travel to Russia to face Spartak Moscow.
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