'Ruthless' - Michael Stewart details Rangers 'fear factor' after Hamilton 'onslaught'

Rangers players celebrate against Hamilton (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Gers put the Scottish Premiership’s bottom side to the sword at Ibrox thanks to braces from Joe Aribo, Kemar Roofe, and James Tavernier, as well as strikes from Scott Arfield and Brandon Barker.

Steven Gerrard’s men were four up by half-time, but maintained their relentless pace after the break, and on another day, may have even reached double figures.

The result extended the league leaders’ unbeaten start to the season to 14 matches, and allowed them to reestablish the nine-point gap between themselves and Celtic at the summit of the table after the Hoops ran out 4-1 winners over Motherwell earlier in the day.

And Stewart was left awestruck by the efficiency and clinical nature of Rangers’ display.

Speaking on Sportscene, the pundit said: “I think a lot of it is down to the fact that for teams going to Ibrox now, there’s a fear factor. They’re awaiting the onslaught from the home side.

"From Hamilton’s perspective, they gifted far too much space to some dangerous players in the Rangers side, and they were thoroughly punished for it.

"You see Steven Gerrard's comments about it being a performance from start to finish, and it really was. You’re talking about the last 10 minutes or so, and you had the feeling or impression that Rangers were desperate to score more goals, which at 8-0 you’re thinking, ‘They’re gunning to get double figures’. They could have – they should have.

"At the moment, Rangers are ruthless – they really are – and that performance and result, I think one of the most impressive things about it was that it wasn’t surprising.

"As soon as the game started – it was 4-0 at half-time, and you’re thinking, ‘I’ve got the feeling that they won’t let up’, and they didn’t. Four in the second half as well, and a very, very good performance from them.”

The Gers’ eight-goal margin of victory was the largest that the Scottish top flight has seen since it was rebranded as the Premiership in 2013.

The last time Rangers won by eight goals was also in 2013, when they swept aside Stenhousemuir in a League One clash.