RANGERS head to St Mirren on Sunday to round off their Championship campaign and the game has taken on an extra significance after their last three league fixtures.

Mark Warburton’s side were on a high after winning the title, lifting the Petrofac Training Cup and then beating Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

But they have taken just one point from the games against Hibernian, Alloa and Livingston in recent days and they know themselves that they just haven’t been good enough.

When you start out in pre-season, the focus is all on winning the league. That is what you are striving for day in, day out.

So, when you do get over the line, especially as Rangers have done with a few games to spare this season, it is only natural that the intensity drops a bit.

It is not a case of the players not trying, but in the back of your mind you know that there isn’t the same pressure on you to win games as you wind down the season.

The issue for Mark is that Rangers still have a huge fixture to come in a couple of weeks and he must find a way of getting his players right mentally and physically for the Scottish Cup final against Hibs at Hampden.

The manager made no excuses for the performance against Livingston on Tuesday night and he vowed that he will get it right in the build-up to the final on May 21.

That is why the game in Paisley is so important for Rangers now. Mark, and the supporters, will be expecting a far improved performance from the team.

After such a terrific Championship campaign, it would be a shame for Rangers to finish it off by dropping more points at St Mirren and Mark will be determined that will not be the case.

After Sunday, there is then the three week break before the final and the manager is going into unchartered territory in many ways.

It is very rare in football that you have such a long gap build-up to a cup final and there is no right or wrong way as to how you approach it.

Mark said last week that he didn’t want to take the players away abroad for a few days because he didn’t want them getting into holiday mode. He is right.

So that is why he has arranged the game with Spurs and he will be doing everything he can to ensure that the players are in the best possible condition.

It is one thing to train but it is quite another to play and that is the problem for Rangers right now. They will have their days off and they will do a lot of work at Murray Park but it is not the same as playing competitive games.

The bounce game will be useful for Rangers and it will give Martyn Waghorn a chance to get some match time under his belt before the final.

But Mark will hope that the break doesn’t have too big an impact on his squad. As a player, you can’t just turn it on and off when you feel like it so he will be frustrated at what has happened in the last three games.

Once you drop off the level where you should be, it is hard to raise your game again. And that is why the trip to St Mirren this weekend is so important for Rangers.

If I had been in that position in my day, I don’t know what situation I would have preferred. You can either have the Rangers scenario of training for three weeks without a competitive game or you can be in Hibs’ shoes and have a handful of really important fixtures in a short space of time.

I don’t think you can say for definite which set of circumstances is best and which team will benefit from their respective run-ups to the cup final.

All Rangers can do is focus on themselves and make sure that they are as prepared as they can be for the game at Hampden.

For the players, it is a chance to end a terrific campaign on a really high note and what a confidence boost it would give them going into the Premiership next season.

If they can win at Hampden, they can then go away on their holidays knowing that they deservedly won the Championship, they won the Petrofac Training Cup and they could also cherish their Scottish Cup medal.

And it is the chance to do just that that should be inspiring them over the next few weeks as they count down the days to the final.

The players will know themselves that they haven’t been good enough in the last three games and the fans are rightly unhappy at how those matches have unfolded.

It is only a few days since they were getting all the praise, and deservedly so, after winning the league, the Petrofac Cup and the Old Firm game but now questions are being asked of the manager and the players and people are expecting a positive reaction.

They have already proven that they can win big games and they can rise to the occasion, though, and this run will be largely forgotten if Rangers win the Scottish Cup.

A win, and a performance, against St Mirren would certainly be a step in the right direction on the road to Hampden.