CHARACTER and resilience come to mind when you reflect on Rangers’ win over Livingston on Sunday and that is exactly what Steven Gerrard would have been looking for from his players.

It was a case of how much they wanted to go and bounce back after the defeat at Kilmarnock, how much they wanted to prove a point and how much they wanted to right a wrong after losing there earlier in the season. Steven asked questions of the players and I think they answered them well.

The first goal was an error from Liam Kelly obviously but Ryan Jack won’t be worrying about that and it set the tone for Rangers. They should have been ahead before that, though.

And they should have scored more goals through Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, but they got their rewards in the end and it was comfortable for Rangers.

It was a dominant display and they matched Livingston in the area that they have been brilliant at this season in terms of their fight, their commitment, their aggression. In the end, their quality was then able to shine through.

It was a far better team performance than they put in against Kilmarnock and there were a lot of pleasing showings for Steven right throughout the side on Sunday.

Individual errors cost them at Rugby Park and there was a momentum swing when they lost the goal after the mistake from Joe Worrall. Once they got ahead at Livi, they never looked like losing the lead, though.

As a manager, you can’t legislate for mistakes. Players making the wrong choices and being punished isn’t down to coaching or tactics, it is down to concentration from the individual involved.

If Rangers can stop making those mistakes, then they will be up there challenging come the end of the season and they will have a far better chance of being successful.

There is still a lot of football to be played and Celtic now have a wee gap over the chasing three going into their game in hand with St Johnstone tomorrow night.

Aberdeen drawing with Kilmarnock was probably the right result from Rangers’ perspective and they did what they had to do on Sunday to get back into second place.

They should be beating St Mirren at Ibrox this weekend and then it is a huge game up at Pittodrie next Wednesday night.

The manager has stressed the need for consistency once again in recent days and Rangers need to put a run together to prove to the fans that they have what it takes this season.

The reaction from the supporters after the Celtic game and the Kilmarnock game couldn’t have been more different. One day everything is brilliant and the next it is a disaster.

That is just the way it is at Rangers and even the players that weren’t used to that before this season should have adjusted to that level of pressure and scrutiny by now.

It is all about opinions in Scotland and I think the players get to realise the demands and the expectations pretty quickly at Ibrox, and understand just how passionate the fans are.

If you are not doing well, you are going to take stick. So you do need a tough skin to play with Rangers.

Walter Smith and Ally McCoist used to point to the international footballers that weren’t able to deal with life at Rangers. World class players have come here and not been able to hand the pressure, the expectations and the demands.

Everyone thinks they can until they are put in that position and I still think the scrutiny here is unlike anything that you get around the world.

In England, you have a top five or six and of course there are demands at what are massive, massive clubs. I am not putting Rangers and Celtic in that category financially.

Our league might not be full of quality, but it is one of the most competitive leagues in Europe and that is something you quickly realise when you are at Rangers.

As the season goes on and the finishing line looms in sight, every game becomes more and more important because of what is at stake.

I have been in teams that have won the league on the last day of the season at Rugby Park and Tannadice and we were done on the last day up at Pittodrie.

When it comes to those final games, it is all about who can stay calm, who can handle the pressure and who can win when it really matters.

Celtic have been in the driving seat for the last few years but they haven’t really had any pressure applied to them in the run-in because the league has been won early doors.

It will be interesting to see, if Celtic are in that position, if they can handle it. That is a different challenge to what they have had for the last couple of years when they have been winning at a canter.

Now, Rangers have not been in that position. And they have to prove that they can cope with the pressure of mounting a challenge and having to go out there and win no matter what it takes.

It is about winning when you are not playing well, about rolling your sleeves up and somehow getting through it.

It might not be pretty at times but that is what you have to do and the importance of every fixture will only increase as the title race evolves.