MARK WARBURTON is pleased a back to basics approach is paying dividends at both ends of the park for Rangers.

The Light Blues head into their Scottish Cup clash with Kilmarnock this afternoon bidding to record their eighth successive win in all competitions and book a quarter-final berth.

After seeing their advantage in the Championship title race eroded last year, Rangers are now eight points clear of second-placed Hibernian at the top of the table.

Warburton’s side hit 19 goals in four games as they saw off Hibernian, Dumbarton, Cowdenbeath and Livingston but it has been their defensive resolve that has been key in their last couple of outings.

The Gers have kept clean sheets in the wins over Morton, Falkirk and Raith Rovers and boss Warburton is pleased with the progress his team are making at present.

He said: “We had that so-called mini-crisis where we drew a couple of games and we learned from that. In the Hibs game, with the importance of the occasion, we were very good on the day and since then we’ve had some strong performances.

“But it’s a tough league, whether it’s the surfaces or the weather, and we’re in good shape just now.

“We learned about teams putting eight or nine men behind the ball and we lost patience. We lost our shape and pushed too many men forward in advanced areas without focussing on key areas behind us.

“We got back to basics like we did in pre-season and it’s worked well. It’s about recognising the ‘what if’ scenario and dealing with it. You have to be tight and you can’t leave yourself vulnerable to the counters.

“They’re a Premiership side so they get respect for that. We think they’ll counter as well.

“We have to be resilient, well-balanced, good pitch geography and hopefully get the rewards for our possession.

“We tend to dominate games, on Tuesday night we could’ve been very comfortable by half-time. We didn’t get the rewards and it was a tough struggle.”