Derek Johnstone: Points are more important than performances for Mark Warburton and Rangers

Mark was happy with the performance against Aberdeen last weekend but Rangers were still left with nothing to show for their efforts and dropped points once again.

Now, the visit of Partick Thistle this weekend is a really important game for the manager and Rangers. It is a game that they are expected to win and one they should win.

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It would ease the pressure a bit and Mark will know that they have to start winning. I wouldn’t mind if they weren’t playing well but were picking up three points. The most important thing is winning games.

Partick Thistle are a decent side and they can cause you problems on their day. Like every other team, they will come to Ibrox and look to catch Rangers on the break. If they leave with a point, like Hamilton and Ross County did, they will be delighted.

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Mark has said a few times this season that he has been pleased with the performance but the performance hasn’t brought three points often enough. The fans that went up to Aberdeen were expecting to win the game but had to come back down the road feeling the disappointment of a defeat.

Pittodrie is one of the grounds, like Parkhead, where you don’t have to play well, you just have to win the game. It is fine saying that you are playing well and you are not getting the breaks but the fans will only accept that for so long.

I think the players have got to take responsibility themselves. The ones that have spoken after the Aberdeen game have said that they were unlucky and that they deserved at least a point. But what you deserve and what you get are different things.

You have to go out, do the business and win the games. Some of them maybe never realised what it means to play for Rangers but they will certainly know now after the start they have had to the season.

They have taken a bit of criticism from the supporters and the Press and they need to show a reaction. When you are at Rangers, this run of form is not acceptable.

It is a really important game against Thistle this weekend and I would expect them to go out, put in a performance and get the three points.

Hopefully they can get a good result on Saturday and that is then the foundation for them to build on to get them going.

Football is all about confidence and when you lose that then you really struggle.

The manager can do so much with players, but the belief in yourself that you need is down to the individual themselves. If they lose that then it is a long road back. A good performance and a win against Thistle would certainly help.

The fans have stuck by the manager and the team through bad runs before and they have enjoyed most of the football that has been on show in the last couple of years. But that goodwill only lasts so long and they need victories now.

Rangers can’t be languishing in seventh place in the table. You would rather be winning games than playing well and not winning at this moment in time.

I do think it is a must win on Saturday, not just for Mark and the players, but for the supporters as well. They need to see signs that the team can go on and move up the table.

We have improved over the last few games, the midfield in particular, and we are creating chances. But you need to put them away to win games.

We were more clinical in the Queen of the South game than we were against County and Aberdeen and we need to be more consistent in front of goal.

Mark needs more from the team in the final third and we have to start converting more of the chances that we are creating.

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Rangers fielded a few first team players in the Under-20 game on Tuesday night so maybe Mark is considering making changes for Saturday. If players don’t play well a few weeks on the trot then they should find themselves out of the team.

I didn’t think they played badly up at Aberdeen and they were unlucky not to get a result.

There is certainly not a big gap between Aberdeen and Rangers. The manager would have been pleased with that but he needs his side to be more consistent.

It is the points that are more important than the performance this weekend and Rangers have to get their campaign back on track at Ibrox.