PEDRO CAIXINHA is pleased with the progress that Rangers have made during the international break as he prepares for the return to Premiership action.

The Light Blues saw their proposed trip to Canada last week cancelled at the eleventh hour as they were denied the chance to face Portuguese giants Benfica in friendly action.

Championship promotion hopefuls Morton provided the opposition instead as they played three 35 minute sessions at Auchenhowie on Saturday afternoon.

Read more: Clubs always lose out during the international breaks, says Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha​

And boss Caixinha reckons it was a worthwhile exercise for his side ahead of the tricky top flight fixture with St Johnstone on Friday night.

He said: “The whole week was great. We took advantage and worked on a lot of aspects, and worked at a high pace. So it was an intense week and we knew it was the moment for us to do that.

“That is why we played the game with three periods of 35-minutes – giving 35 minutes to the players who have had more game-time and then giving a chance to those who have not played that much, as well as giving a chance to some young boys too.

“So overall, it was a really good week and we are starting this week on a totally different level as we prepare for the next match.

Read more: St Johnstone have to cut out the mistakes against Rangers, says boss Tommy Wright​

“I think Morton play in a similar way to St Johnstone, with more-or-less the same philosophy, so it was good to put in practice some of those things.”

Rangers will head to McDiarmid Park aiming to build on their victory over Hamilton last time out as they got back to winning ways after the Old Firm reverse at Ibrox.

Caixinha’s side are six points adrift of Celtic and Aberdeen in the Premiership standings after a mixed start to the campaign.

But the 46-year-old has been satisfied with the efforts of his squad during the shutdown as all sights have been fixed on the Saints.

Read more: Clubs always lose out during the international breaks, says Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha​

Caixinha said: “Not only about the game itself, because if I was thinking about that game I should not train the way we train, with the intensity and the pace we train in the previous session before that game.

“So I was much more concerned about knowing if they were going to reproduce what we did with that pace knowing that they were not fresh enough to perform like that. So they did a very good job.

“We committed some mistakes and we will learn from it. But overall things are getting on the direction we want.”

Caixinha fielded a different eleven in each of the three sessions against Morton as his Gers squad were put through their paces at the weekend.

Rangers ended the match with Academy kids Andy Dallas, Kyle McLelland, Lewis Mayo and Scott Gray making up an inexperienced back four.

Read more: St Johnstone have to cut out the mistakes against Rangers, says boss Tommy Wright​

And boss Caixinha reckons there were plenty of positives for him to take from the meeting with Jim Duffy’s side.

He told RangersTV: “They played the last period. We had Andy at right-back, Kyle who is 15, was one of the centre-halves, Lewis, who is 17, was the other one, and Scott, who is also 17, was the left-back.

“So they did very well, and in that period of time, we only conceded the one goal from a direct free-kick.

“I liked overall the three groups. They were three different groups, with a different formation in each of the periods.

“It was also a moment for us to try something and also for us to give minutes to the players who have not being playing.”