Ianis Hagi's early goal set Rangers on their waySNS

Ianis Hagi's early goal set Rangers on their way

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland at Ibrox

Manager Philippe Clement says the club's board know what he "would be happy with" as Rangers headed into the final day of the transfer window with a comprehensive Scottish Premiership win over Ross County.

The Ibrox side continued their good recent run of form and stay within 10 points leaders Celtic.

An Ianis Hagi double and effort from John Souttar had the Ibrox side in command at the break, and James Tavernier's second-half penalty completed the win.

When asked afterwards what he wanted his squad to look like when the window closes at 23:00 GMT on Monday, the Belgian said: "That's not for your ears."

"The board will know that and they know, they know which types or which profiles I would be happy [with]. We will see how far we can get."

Rangers' only defeat in the past 11 matches came against Manchester United in the Europa League and there was little danger their excellent Premiership home form was going to be dented here.

This was their third big win over County this term, with the aggregate now 13-0.

Hagi tapped in early on after visiting goalkeeper Jordan Amissah palmed Vaclav Cerny's shot right into his path.

Then the Romanian's whipped free-kick shortly afterwards took a big deflection off the top of the wall to bamboozle the helpless goalkeeper.

Similarly, Amissah could then do nothing about Souttar's effort from a flicked-on Hagi corner, the centre-back's acute finish rifling the roof of the net.

Souttar nearly had a double too, his second-half finish from another Amissah spill ruled out by an offside flag against Cyriel Dessers.

Captain Tavernier expertly stroked away his penalty - awarded for Connor Randall's challenge on Dessers - to give the scoreline the gloss Rangers' display deserved.

Swagger from Rangers as goals roll in

There was a swagger about Rangers' play, with Cerny and Hagi enjoying plenty of the ball in dangerous areas and Dessers and Hamza Igamane causing problems.

Despite a fairly flat opening period, once Hagi got the ball rolling, Rangers got in the mood and looked like they could score at will.

A three-goal interval lead didn't flatter them at all, as Nico Raskin and Mohamed Diomande pulled the strings in midfield, while Jefte rampaged down the left.

Rangers have only dropped two points at Ibrox all season – against Dundee United - and were not in remote danger of letting any more slip.

They're enjoying their football at the moment, scoring goals, and the momentum gained should provide a decent platform for the second half of the season.

Rangers' sole January signing Rafael Fernandes make his first appearance from the bench and, if the players Clement wants do indeed arrive, the feel-good factor around Ibrox is likely to grow.

County discipline doesn't last long enough

Visiting manager Don Cowie will be heartily sick of the sight of Rangers.

After a 6-0 hammering at Hampden earlier in the season was followed up by a 3-0 reverse in Dingwall, he would have been hoping to keep things as tight as possible for as long as possible.

But his side's organisation and discipline only lasted 18 minutes.

He must have warned his defence that Cerny loves nothing more than to cut in from the right and him doing that led to the first goal. County's shoulders slumped noticeably thereafter.

A fourth consecutive win on the road was always going to be the longest of long shots. The Dingwall side's recent form has been good and they should be able to consign this one to history easily enough.

They showed in flashes, especially through midfielder Noah Chilvers, that they'll cause problems for lesser sides.

And if they don't manage to work their way into the top six, they'll be delighted they won't have to face Rangers again this season.

What they said

Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "I'm quite happy and you see what we've been saying the last months. This team is growing, everybody is starting to understand better the patterns, the way of playing, with and without the ball.

"Rangers is for this moment an exciting place to watch if you see the evolution of all these young players, out of nothing growing and becoming stronger. It's exciting to see where they're going to grow."

Ross County manager Don Cowie: "We started really well in terms of limiting them to very few opportunities. Then, when you concede first, it's a bit of a blow but it's how you react to that and at that stage we let the game get away from us.

"We always look at what we could do better. I feel we've got a really good group who, on their day, can really compete."

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