Danny Rohl did warn that, with ‘nine Cup finals’ remaining, only the result mattered now. He tentatively ticked off the first with an ugly victory on a revolting day in Paisley.
Tuur Rommens separated the sides with a fine 31st minute goal, the Belgian’s first for the club.
Rangers failed to convert periods of pressure and control into a comforting second goal and sorely lacked quality in attack.
This was far from a pretty watch in the wind and rain, but Rohl’s men showed what was required to confront the conditions and keep a spirited St Mirren side at bay.
The vital three points were achieved after clinging on late against a host team reeling from the loss of their inspirational manager Stephen Robinson to Aberdeen.
Better, much better, will surely be required from Rangers to overhaul Celtic and Hearts and become champions.
Tuur Rommens jumps for joy after scoring the all-important goal for Rangers
And yet, after three successive away draws to Hibs, Motherwell and Livingston, finding a way to win on the road was a step in the right direction.
After pleasing play for long spells against Celtic in their two meetings resulted in one point and a Scottish Cup exit on penalties, getting over the line here was a relief.
Rangers followed Celtic’s example in closing the gap on Hearts this weekend and did so on the back of a comfortable defensive effort.
Rohl’s men are only three points adrift and the manager is promising improvement in weeks to come.
Only if they can rediscover the final third quality sorely missing at the SMiSA and lift the title will this win be looked back with any fondness.
A seriously smart move for Rommens in the January transfer window will also be reflected upon with pride.
No harm to 19-year-old Jayden Meghoma, but the left-back was talking about learning curves on his arrival from Brentford B team.
Meghoma has plenty of scope for improvement. However, the climate at Rangers doesn’t allow for much of that to come gradually.
Rommens gets his boot on the ball and Rangers are one-up after 31 minutes in Paisley
Rommens has been an instant upgrade since ousting him.
Despite not training for two days, on the back of a knock sustained against Celtic, he was typically impactful on the flank.
Such dynamic and class options are in short supply in St Mirren’s injury-ravaged ranks.
Craig McLeish was only promoted to the job of first-team transition phase head coach last month.
He walked into an extremely tough position as caretaker last Wednesday after Robinson’s exit. Things only got more difficult in the days leading up to hosting Rangers.
The post-Robinson era began badly for Saints with the grim Saturday night viewing of Kilmarnock beating Hearts 1-0.
That drew Neil McCann’s team level on points and confirmed the Ayrshire men as the strugglers with momentum.
Knockout specialists Saints, with a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic looming, will need to gather some fresh impetus of their own quickly.
The view from behind the goal as Tuur Rommens keeps Rangers in the title hunt
The Rangers goal came against a defence in makeshift mode. No surprise there. St Mirren’s luckless campaign with injuries has turned just plain cruel.
Keanu Baccus, only four games into his comeback following three months out, suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in training last Thursday.
Declan John followed him to the treatment room a day later. All this after stalwart Marcus Fraser was lost for the campaign with a collarbone injury earlier in the month.
A quarter of an hour into the game, Alex Gogic and Jayden Richardson suffered a horrible collision going for the same ball.
The Cypriot’s bloodied head was mended, but Richardson suffered a deep gash above his eye that forced him off.
With Richardson’s natural replacement Conor McMenamin also hurt, Allan Campbell replaced him on 17 minutes. Liam Donnelly, in only his fourth league start, switched to right centre-back and Richard King to wingback.
With St Mirren operating a back five, any delivery from Rangers had to be pinpoint. And that’s precisely what Nico Raskin produced for his fellow countryman on 31 minutes.
Mikey Moore battles for the ball with St Mirren pair Shamal George and Alex Gogic
The dreadful wind caused Donnelly to clear James Tavernier’s long ball only as far as Djeidi Gassama. He fed the ball wide to Raskin who dropped the most delightful, delicate ball over the Saints defence to the far post. Rommens ghosted in unmarked to guide the ball past Shamal George with the inside of his left boot.
Four minutes before the break, Rommens collected from a corner and delivered a terrific cross for Youssef Chermiti. The Premiership Player of the Month failed to hit the target from four yards.
The period when Rangers really should have seized the game by the throat was the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
Yet they failed to take their opportunities – something Rohl had been warning them about all week.
Raskin’s header from a Tavernier free-kick flashed just the wrong side of the post. On 59 minutes, Tavernier found space to shape a shot from the edge of the box that was bound for the bottom corner of the net. George, at full stretch, clawed the ball clear. Ryan Naderi should have fared better with a back post header.
St Mirren had been contained with little sweat for the opening hour and that had to change for McLeish. On came January signing Jake Young for defender King.
Then Jonah Ayunga, scorer in the 1-1 draw between the teams last August, added to the firepower in place of Scott Tanser.
Young, buoyed by goals in his last two games, produced a brilliant take of a long ball to get in behind Tavernier. However, he dragged that one chance across goal while Dan Nlundulu begged for a cutback.
It was an ugly victory for Rangers but Rommens doesn’t care as he takes plaudits for goal
It was joyless fare for Rangers fans once again living on their nerves late in a game with title implications.
Chermiti’s underwhelming afternoon ended with the hook for Thelo Aasgaard. And Rangers were then boosted by the return of Connor Barron on 72 minutes for Tochi Chukwuani.
The ex-Aberdeen midfielder hadn’t featured since a knee injury in early January and could be a key man down the stretch. Here, he helped Rangers do just enough on the game management front.
In the 90th minute, the visitors worked the ball into the net but the relief was short-lived. Bojan Miovski and Raskin created for Aasgaard to tap home from a narrowly offside position. The flag went straight up to deny the Norwegian his second goal against Saints this season.
