Naderi double keeps Rangers rolling as McInnes eyes Saturday night at Dens
Sunday 11 October 2026 · By Fraser Quinn
Rangers had the top of the Premiership to themselves for about 24 hours this weekend. A 3–1 win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox on Saturday made it six league wins in a row, and seven in all competitions, before Celtic's victory at Fir Park on Sunday moved them back above Derek McInnes's side.
Two points is the gap now. On current form, Rangers aren't going anywhere.
The game was basically done by half-time. Ryan Naderi headed in the opener on 15 minutes, Kevin Kelsy got his first league goal for the club on 24, and Naderi headed in a second just before the break. That's six goals this season for Naderi, according to Sky Sports, and the partnership with Kelsy is starting to look like something Rangers can build on.
The second half was a different story. Rangers were flat after the break, and Kilmarnock substitute Nicky Clescenco scored on a counter-attack in the 90th minute. That ended a run of clean sheets that had stretched to five matches, which will annoy McInnes a bit more than a scrappy 45 minutes.
Overall, though, the manager kept things in perspective. "Seven wins in a row and top of the league — we've got to feel good about ourselves," he told BBC Scotland.
He also pointed to how disruptive the break had been. Eight of his starting XI had been away on international duty, and McInnes said the gap between games was "too long". It's a fair point. Players coming back from different camps, different time zones and different workloads rarely look sharp straight away, so the dip after half-time made sense.
Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann was unhappy about Rangers' second goal, believing there was a handball involved. That's one for the pundits. For Rangers, it doesn't change the table.
There were 50,501 inside Ibrox, and the mood around the club has changed a lot since the start of the season. Back-to-back derby wins before the break did a lot of that work, and the league form since has kept it going. BBC lists Rangers' last six league games as six wins.
The next game is a tough one. Rangers travel to Dundee on Saturday 17 October for a Saturday night kick-off, currently listed for 20:00. As always, TV picks can shift times, so check before you head up the road.
Dundee won't be a pushover. Steven Pressley's side are fourth, came from behind to win at Falkirk on Saturday, and have conceded fewer league goals than anyone except the Old Firm. A cold night at Dens is exactly the kind of fixture that tests a title challenge.
After that, St Johnstone come to Ibrox on 24 October, and then Rangers go to Tynecastle to face Hearts on Wednesday 28 October.
So it's three games in 11 days, two of them against top-five sides. If Rangers are still within touching distance of Celtic at the end of that run, they'll feel good about where they stand going into November.
North is at the top. The west goal is in front of the Broomloan Road Stand; the east goal is in front of the Copland Road Stand. The plan is schematic and roughly to scale. The pitch is about 105 by 68 metres.
Ibrox Stadium is the home of Rangers Football Club, on Edmiston Drive in Glasgow (G51 2XD). For a visiting supporter it is one of the great away days in the British game: a tight, covered, all-seater bowl of a little over 50,000, with four stands close to the pitch and the noise held in. The record crowd, 118,567 against Celtic in 1939, belongs to the old terraces. Today every ticket is a seat, and the ticket itself is the map: stand, block and turnstile.
The ground is easy to read once you have the compass. The Bill Struth Main Stand runs along the south side and faces Edmiston Drive. Opened in 1929, this red-brick stand gained a third tier, the Club Deck, in 1991, and holds the dressing rooms, directors’ box and most of the hospitality. Opposite, to the north, is the Sandy Jardine Stand, still widely called the Govan Stand. It is two-tiered and was finished in 1981. The corners at each end of it are single-tier, with large screens above.
The goals sit at the short ends, hard against the stands. The east goal is directly in front of the Copland Road Stand, the traditional Rangers end and usually the loudest part of the ground. The west goal is directly in front of the Broomloan Road Stand, a near mirror of Copland, opened in 1980. Away supporters are at that western end, not behind the Copland goal.
Visiting fans are normally placed in the north-west corner, where the Sandy Jardine Stand meets the Broomloan Road Stand — the blocks often called Govan West — and sometimes in the lower tier of Broomloan itself. Bigger travelling supports, in the cups or in Europe, can be given more of the Broomloan end. Allocations change by fixture, so trust the block on your ticket. Come in from Broomloan Road, not the Edmiston Drive frontage, and check the turnstile number before you join a queue. Have the ticket ready on your phone or in your hand.
The Glasgow Subway is the simplest way in. Ibrox station is a short walk to the Broomloan side, and Govan is close as well. From the city centre, St Enoch to Ibrox takes only a few minutes. By road, leave the M8 at junction 24 (Helen Street) and follow the signs. The sat-nav postcode is G51 2XD. Streets around Edmiston Drive fill early, and match-day parking controls are often in force, so allow time if you are meeting a coach on Broomloan Road. Gates usually open about ninety minutes before kick-off.
Inside, expect a full house and a partisan crowd. The Copland end will sing for most of the ninety minutes, and the bowl keeps the sound in. There is no smoking anywhere in the stadium, including e-cigarettes. Flags are allowed only within the club’s published rules — short canes, no flag-surfing, and banners usually need a fire certificate — so read the conditions on your ticket before you pack one. Food and drink are ordinary concourse fare, and cards are widely taken. Keep bags small.
The pitch measures about 105 by 68 metres. From the away corner the sightline is decent rather than perfect: you are off to one side of the west goal, beside or beneath the screen, with the Main Stand filling the far touchline. Arrive early, find your block, and you will see why visiting sides talk about Ibrox long after the result is forgotten.