Derek McInnes will hope his side's battling 1-0 victory at Aberdeen marks a turning point in what has been a turbulent start to his reign at Rangers. The visit to Pittodrie, a ground where McInnes spent eight years in charge of Aberdeen, carried extra significance given the mounting scrutiny on his position after a difficult opening stretch to the season.
Rangers arrived in the north-east having won just two of their previous seven matches and having already suffered elimination from Europe before the end of August. The pressure on McInnes had been building steadily, making Sunday's result all the more important regardless of the performance level.
The game was settled by a second-half penalty from Lawrence Shankland, giving Rangers a narrow but crucial three points in the Scottish Premiership. It was far from a polished display, but McInnes suggested afterwards that the character shown by his players was more valuable than aesthetic quality at this stage of the campaign.
"Contrasting feelings from Thursday night," McInnes said. "It was a tough few days for us all. I thought today we were far more like the Rangers team I want us to be. Probably for the first time this season, I really, really enjoyed watching the team. There have been moments of enjoyment, a couple of wins and some passages of play, but we know when we come here that you can't be sparkling for 90 minutes. You need to compete and bring quality, and I thought we did all that."
One of the bright spots came from an unlikely source, with new signing Kim Min-su making an eye-catching debut just days after joining the club and having had only a single training session with his new teammates. The 20-year-old South Korean, signed from Girona for a reported £8.5m, looked comfortable alongside Djeidi Gassama as one of Rangers' more effective attacking outlets in a match that was otherwise short on quality from both sides.
McInnes admitted that securing Kim's signature had required patience, describing the young full-back as someone who brings a "much-needed dose of quality" to the squad.
Not everyone was convinced by the wider picture at Ibrox, however. Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd used the game to question aspects of the club's recruitment strategy, particularly the continued absence of midfielder Nicolas Raskin from the starting lineup. The Belgian has been the subject of transfer speculation but was left out again despite no bids having been received for him, according to McInnes.
"If there's not been any bids for Raskin, get him in your team because he's your best midfielder by a country mile," Boyd said. He also pointed to the size of the current squad as a concern, adding: "Rangers must have over 30 players — it's not sustainable. They need to get five, six, seven out at least before the window closes. There are other areas of the team that need strengthened other than the forward areas. They're still shy of someone who can connect the midfield and be creative."
Attention is now turning to the striker market, with Rangers still working to address the gap left by Youssef Chermiti's long-term injury. The club have been linked with Portland Timbers forward Kevin Kelsy, and while McInnes declined to confirm any names, he indicated a deal could be close.
"We're still trying to react to the Youssef situation," McInnes said. "We're pretty close on that one. Hopefully we can get our target in before Wednesday's game [away to Falkirk]."
Based on reporting from BBC Sport Football.