THE stats are important for Mark Warburton. The only numbers that mattered on Saturday were two and three as Rangers scored twice to beat Aberdeen and add more points to their Premiership tally.

This wasn’t a day where Warburton’s side, as he would put it, dominated the football. They didn’t have the majority of possession or work through the stages from back to front each time they looked to build an attack.

For the manager, it wasn’t the best that Rangers have played this season. The significance of the result cannot be underestimated for Warburton and his players, though.

Given the opposition, the occasion and what was at stake, this was the most memorable day of the campaign so far for Rangers.

This fixture was much talked about and eagerly anticipated, and it lived up to the billing as old rivals were reunited once again. For Aberdeen, the feelings were familiar as they left Ibrox defeated, their unwanted 25-year record still intact.

Victory moved the Gers back into second place in the Premiership but this one was more about proving a point to their critics, and perhaps to themselves, as they looked to lay down a marker in the battle to be best of the rest this term.

The midweek defeat to Hearts was a blow to those ambitions as another three points were dropped but it was the manner of the performance that was most concerning for supporters.

Rangers had to react in the right way and Warburton had to prove that he and his squad are actually learning from the same mistakes that continue to be made.

Warburton’s reluctance to deviate from his favoured 4-3-3 formation in recent weeks has irritated some supporters, and the levels of frustration reached a crescendo at Tynecastle as Rangers failed to lay a glove on the Jambos.

There was a slight shift on Saturday as Kenny Miller assumed a midfield role and Lee Hodson, Clint Hill, Barrie McKay, Michael O’Halloran and Joe Garner came back into the team.

It was the change in attitude that was most noticeable, and that was most important, however, as Rangers clinched a deserved victory to move five points clear of Derek McInnes’ side.

This was a different way to win for Rangers under Warburton. It might not have ticked the blueprint boxes, but it was, under the circumstances, their best showing of the season.

The movement may not have been as fluid, the passing may not have been as constant, but this was a roll up the sleeves performance from Rangers. In an end-to-end, feisty encounter it was exactly the kind of display Warburton’s side needed to produce.

Too often this term their play has been laboured, their approach more lacklustre than swashbuckling. At times, Rangers have been boring to watch.

On Saturday, there were still some nice passages of play - one slick move sent Lee Wallace away in the first half and the skipper really should have opened the scoring – but the approach was more purposeful and direct.

Miller took his goal well after a deflected Garner cross split the Dons defence, while Hodson ghosted into space and rifled the ball beyond Joe Lewis to clinch the win.

Ibrox roared on both occasions and the decibels rose to levels they have perhaps not reached before this term.

But the sounds of celebrations were not the only ones to pierce the winter’s air in Govan. The atmosphere crackled from start to finish, the crowd responding to every challenge and every chance throughout a competitive clash.

This was a big game, and it was Rangers who delivered a big performance.

There had been doubts over whether Warburton’s side were capable of producing like this against a team that will be their main rivals in the fight for second spot this season.

The defeats against Hibernian and Falkirk last term, and to Celtic and Aberdeen this season, were still in the back of the minds of some fans, while the capitulation in the Capital in midweek was very much fresh in the memory.

This time, the Light Blue legions went home heartened as well as happy. Warburton’s side had stepped up and delivered, and now they must do it again and again.

Defeat to the Dons would have piled the pressure on Warburton’s shoulders and he would have been under severe scrutiny ahead of the visit of Hearts this weekend.

Having avoided that unwanted scenario, he must now find a way of channelling the feel good factor into a sustained run of positivity at Ibrox.

Every dropped point is a blow to Rangers’ ambitions of finishing second this term, while every below par performance is another black mark against Warburton.

But Rangers now have a chance to lay the foundations for an improved period of form if they can prove that Saturday was not just a one-off.

After facing Hearts this weekend, the Light Blues travel to Hamilton and St Johnstone either side of a home clash with Inverness before they round off the year with the second Old Firm derby of the league campaign.

It is a run that presents Rangers with an opportunity and it is one that they must grasp as they attempt to put distance between themselves and Aberdeen and Hearts.

The tactics and the team selections from Warburton will be crucial. As Saturday showed, the mentality and performances from his players are even more important.