Rangers 'not guilty' over transfer delay as Nico Raskin update given and Derek McInnes purrs over two players

Derek McInnes believes Rangers gave him a glimpse of the team he wants them to be after digging out an important 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

A 69th-minute penalty by Lawrence Shankland secured Rangers' first victory of the Premiership campaign at a venue that has traditionally been a hard place to come for the Ibrox side.

Rangers had to battle in a feisty match which saw referee Matthew MacDermid dish out nine yellow cards and McInnes felt his players showed a marked improvement from Thursday's galling Conference League defeat at Jablonec that eliminated the club from European competition.

Rangers were victorious at Pittodrie, with Kim Min-su (centre) impressing on his debut. | SNS Group

McInnes - who came into the match under a degree of pressure for a poor start to his Ibrox tenure - reserved praise for debutant Kim Min-su, with the 20-year-old giving Rangers some much-needed creativity in the final third of the pitch. He also singled out winger Djeidi Gassama, who won the penalty and was lively throughout.

"It was a strong performance, a deserved win," said McInnes. "I thought we were good in the game. I thought we looked like a team, a sense of the team that would like us to be. I think the added bit of quality from Min-su at the top of the pitch was much needed. We've been looking for that for a while now, so it's great that we managed to get him in.

"Any sort of win today was vitally important for obvious reasons, and we've managed to come to a difficult venue, a venue that's not been easy for Rangers teams over the last wee while. So the fact of the matter is we've won it a tough away game, and deservedly so.

"I thought we dealt with Aberdeen's physicality. I thought the effort from the team was first class. I thought on the back of playing 120 minutes on Thursday, and the travelling and everything else, the players were in brilliant condition. We dug deep. It's been a tough couple of days, but we've got our reward today.

"Probably for the first time this season, I've really enjoyed watching the team. There's been momentary moments of enjoyment. There's been a couple of wins and some passages of play, but we know when you come here you can't be sparkling for 90 minutes, but you need to compete, and you need to bring quality, and I thought we did all that in abundance today."

Kim makes real difference for Rangers

Kim, who cost £8.5 million from Girona, was deployed as an attacking midfielder and gave Rangers more impetus. "Just that confidence and speed running around Shankland, it's vitally important for Lawrence, having that movement," explained McInnes. "I've worked with Lawrence a long time, and he needs that speed and invention and creativity.

"It's the quality that we've been searching for for a long time now, and you see the difference to the team. There's a different dynamic. We don't need to be brilliant through the middle of the back and not asking too much of our defenders. If you give them the job to defend properly, but the onus is on the speed and the creativity to bring moments, and I thought they all did that. I thought that Gassama was first class, he's capable of such a big reach. I thought Findlay Curtis gave us good moments in the game as well, and I think it was a great debut for Min-su, considering he only trained once yesterday."

McInnes celebrated gleefully in front of the travelling support at full time. "I've always wanted to do that at Pittodrie, get over and clap with the fans, and celebrate, because I thought the backing was brilliant on Thursday," admitted McInnes. "I thought they were the ones that represented the club properly on Thursday, and we feel that ownership of letting them down. I know how important it is to see the team win, first and foremost, but winning up here is always a big thing for a Rangers supporter."

McInnes hopes that more quality in the final third can be added to his squad before the transfer window closes on Thursday at 5pm. They are closing in on a £9m deal for Portland Timbers striker Kevin Kelsy, although the manager does not expect anything imminent in terms of outgoings - including midfielder Nicolas Raskin, who was once again absent from the squad.

"I need to pick up [on it]," added McInnes. "I spoke to Jim [Gillespie, CEO] yesterday on the recruitment team. In terms of outs, I don't think there's anything imminent on that. There's certainly not been any offers for Nico, if that's the next question. Obviously, it's normally the last couple of days of the window when things really crank up, so we need to be primed for that.

"In terms of ones in, it's been a while now since Youssef [Chermiti] went down against Hibs, so we're really keen and eager to get the striker in that we want. Again, it's taken a bit longer, but it's not reasons the club are guilty for. We all know the importance of bringing in that quality at the top end of the pitch, and I think we've seen a wee flavour of that today.

"To be honest, it was the team that I kind of hoped we could be. We need to show our teeth a bit more as an attacking team at Rangers, and I thought we had people in good positions to go and do that."