Cyriel Dessers' 20th Rangers goal secured the visitors' victory
Cyriel Dessers thinks Rangers "are close to doing something special" after his winner at St Mirren avoided another potentially grievous blow to their Scottish Premiership title hopes.
Victory drew Philippe Clement's side level with Celtic at the top of the table before the reigning champions also won 2-1 at Dundee in Sunday's later kick-off.
But striker Dessers thinks Rangers "have everything in our own hands for the next five games" as they look to complete a domestic treble.
"We are close to doing something special and we have to be aware of that and just leave it all on the pitch," he told BBC Scotland.
"It’s going to be an exciting month with everything to play for. That’s what we deserve with the things we did in the last few months.
"Now it’s up to us to give ourselves what we deserve and what belongs to us."
Having scored both goals in last weekend's Scottish Cup semi-final win over Hearts, Dessers proved the match-winner again after St Mirren's Mikael Mandron had quickly cancelled out James Bolton's own goal.
It saved nervy Rangers the embarrassment of going four league games without a win for the first time since February 2017.
A sixth straight defeat at the hands of the Ibrox side leaves St Mirren without a win in five games as they remain two points clear of Dundee in their own head-to-head battle for a European place.
The warning signs were there for Rangers as Jack Butland saved twice from Mandron amid an anxious opening eight minutes for the visitors.
Rangers, though, had forced Zach Hemming into three good saves of his own before the goalkeeper flapped at a Borna Barisic delivery and, when Mohamed Diomande headed back across goal, centre-half Bolton knocked it over his own goalline under pressure from Dessers.
However, Mandron outmuscled Leon Balogun at the back post and headed down and in off the far post before Butland brilliantly turned a Bolton volley over the crossbar to deny the hosts a half-time lead.
St Mirren's first goal in six meetings with Rangers left the visitors looking shell-shocked and out of ideas after the break until Dessers rose to head home a Tavernier cross before Butland denied Bolton a second equaliser.
Player of the match - Cyriel Dessers (Rangers)
Not many Rangers players emerged with flying colours, but Cyriel Dessers was influential considering he was involved in the first goal and and scored the second. He now has three in two games and told BBC Scotland he is "hungry" for more after reaching a "nice milestone" of 20 club goals for the season.
Plaudits but no points for Paisley side - analysis
That St Mirren had as many shots on target - five - in the first half alone as they had in the previous three meetings with Rangers this season is evidence of how close they came to delivering a blow to the visitors' title hopes.
They had lost their previous four games against the Ibrox side by an aggregate of 9-0 - and the latest three in Paisley by seven goals.
However, they showed they are worthy of a second top-six finish in a row and, despite suffering a third straight defeat, will emerge with renewed confidence that they can improve on last season's failure to win after the Premiership split.
Where, though, would Rangers be without Butland?
The goalkeeper again produced a string of fine saves without which his side's title hopes might have withered in the Paisley sunshine.
Up front, the absence of Abdallah Sima through injury again left Rangers struggling to break down a defence superbly marshalled by Alex Gogic.
Clement, though, will simply point to his players' ability to emerge victorious at a crucial time of the season - and in difficult circumstances - to keep pace with city rivals Celtic.
What they said
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We had a lot chances to win the game, never mind get a point out of it, and they showed great quality.
"The frustration is the two goals - they were both very much avoidable. I think we've got the talent in the football club to get more out of these games."
Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "A very important three points and again it shows the mentality of this team.
"It is maybe not our best game of the season, but the team showed a lot of character, a lot of resilience, a lot of belief also when it was 1-1 to go for the second goal and also to go for a third.
"We need to continue this in our next four finals in the league - and the final in the cup."
What's next?
St Mirren visit Dundee on Saturday (15:00 BST) while Rangers host Kilmarnock the following day (13:00).
