IT is the oldest cliché in the book but it is the mantra that has taken Rangers to the brink of the Championship title this season.

A maximum of eleven games stand between Mark Warburton’s side and the second tier silverware, but Rangers will continue to chalk them off, one game at a time.

The Premiership is in their sights. There will not even be a glance beyond their next 90 minutes, though.

The medals are within their grasps, yet the only focus at Ibrox is on St Mirren on Saturday. Come full-time, the attention will shift to the visit of Raith Rovers on Tuesday.

Victory over the Buddies will ensure Rangers exit the weekend in no worse shape than they entered it and with at least an eight point advantage over Hibernian at the top of the table.

If Warburton had been offered this position in the summer, he would, of course, have taken it. He could have hoped for more, but much less wouldn’t have been accepted.

While fans look down the fixture list and ponder when and where the title could be clinched, Warburton and his players are striving to ensure that it is won.

“At the start of the season, my only focus was St Mirren, our first game, and it has to be that way,” Warburton said.

“It was one game at a time, three points, three points, three points. We had a really good start, eleven games and eleven wins in a row. But we didn’t look beyond that.

“I used to set short-term, six game targets but it’s different here. We did it at Brentford last season, looking at six games and saying to the players ‘how many points can we get from those?’

“Working it out, taking two points on average from every game gives you 92 points and 99 times out of 100 that takes you up and you get promoted. But here Rangers are expected to win every game.

“So if I look at six games and say ‘we can get 15 points,’ then that’s a negative because you’re meant to get 18 out of 18.

“So how do you set targets? We started it at the beginning but then thought ‘this doesn’t work.’ So it’s about one game at a time.”

From his first morning at Ibrox until the present day, Warburton has maintained an inward-looking viewpoint on the Championship title race. It is all about Rangers.

His focus is very much on his players, on where they can improve and how they are going to go about adding another win to their impressive second tier tally.

Hibernian’s 3-0 defeat to Morton on Wednesday evening didn’t go unnoticed at Murray Park, or amongst Gers fans as Alan Stubbs’ side blew a chance to move within five points of the Light Blues.

But the Easter Road surprise hasn’t changed Warburton’s outlook or his preparations ahead of the visit of St Mirren tomorrow afternoon.

He said: “I think people were shocked at the result as a very good team was beaten at home.

“But it doesn’t impact on us in any way. It doesn’t change anything that we do.

“We won’t change or training or our approach. There are still 11 games to go, and 33 points to fight for. So it’s not over. That’s nonsense.

“There are more twists and turns to come. All we can worry about is Rangers. What happens elsewhere doesn’t affect us if we do our job well.

“Our only focus is Saturday. There’s no point thinking about Morton in two Fridays’ time or whenever it is if we drop points on Saturday.

“Another three points and a good performance – that’s what we want. It has to be that way. If you start looking two or three weeks ahead then you’re on a hiding to nothing.

“It (winning the league early) always helps with recruitment and everything else. But all we can do is take it one game at a time. What happens around us we can’t control.”

If Rangers do go on and lift the Championship crown this term, they could look back at the win over Queen of the South last weekend as one of the defining moments.

Warburton was unhappy with a below-par performance from his side as Kenny Miller’s spectacular effort proved the difference at Palmerston.

There were no harsh words or raised voices, however. Warburton may have been angry, but, not for the first time this term, his players knew within themselves what was wrong and what the remedy was.

Warburton said: “I think I’ve only read the riot act once this season. There is generally no shouting and screaming from me.

“They aren’t that type of group of players and we haven’t managed that way. They recognise and know the standards.

“They’ve come in at half-time in games and said ‘that’s not good enough, that wasn’t Rangers,’ and that’s great. It’s music to our ears.

“Even in training if it dips even slightly they demand more and I think that’s when you know you’re in a good place.

“The market – I always seem to refer to football as ‘the market’ – is changing. The mentality of players is changing.

“Youngsters coming out of academies and schools are different. Go back 30 years and you could shout and scream, but those days are gone. I don’t think players respond to that.

“You hear more and more how players like an arm around the shoulder. Around 25 years ago that was the exception, now it’s the rule.

“Most players want to be spoken to correctly. They want to be given clear tasks and be challenged.

“Yelling in their ear doesn’t work. If we need to do that then that means there is something wrong.”

* Tickets for the 2016 Rangers Player of the Year Awards Dinner at the Hilton Glasgow on Sunday, 24 April are on sale now and this year’s event will be sponsored by Glasgow-based IT company Exsel Group.

Mark Warburton’s side have impressed throughout 2015/16 as the Light Blues plot a return to Scotland’s top flight and there will be a number of worthy candidates in contention for the top awards when they are announced in the coming weeks.

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