ROB KIERNAN reckons Rangers are reaping the rewards of their efforts on the training ground after turning around their faltering Championship form in recent weeks.

Mark Warburton’s side saw their lead at the top of the table eroded late last year as they dropped points to Hibernian, Livingston, Morton and Falkirk.

The Gers head to Cappielow on Monday night aiming to move five points clear of Hibs in the title race and Kiernan is pleased to see their hard work paying off at present.

He said: “You’re not going to go through a season playing unbelievably well every week, you’re always going to go through a bit of a sticky spell.

“I think we’ve found something in our formation that is working for us, and we have goals in our team that are coming from our strong base.

“We’ve done a lot of work on the training ground with our formation to make sure we aren’t too vulnerable on the counter attack, and it seems to be working as we are getting our rewards on the pitch.

“Every team wants to go and score goals, but defending is just as important. We let the guys up the pitch do their job and ours is to keep clean sheets and keep the ball out of our net.”

Kiernan has played a key role for Rangers this term following his summer switch from Wigan Athletic as he has helped Warburton’s side take pole position in the title race and move into the Petrofac Training Cup final and fifth round of the Scottish Cup.

The 25-year-old is competing with Danny Wilson and Spurs kid Dominic Ball for a starting berth and he is confident all three centre-backs will make an impact at Ibrox this term.

“All three of us can slot in nicely,” Kiernan told rangers.co.uk.

“There are no bad feeling from the one who isn’t playing, and there are a lot of games left where suspensions and injuries may affect us so we need to be ready.

“Whoever the manager chooses to play, we are all fine with it.”