Ryan Kent rebuilding, goal difference factor, one-upping Celtic - three Rangers takeaways from 8-0 dismantling of sorry Hamilton Accies

Rangers were rampant as they hit four goals in each half to see off Brian Rice’s Hamilton side and move clear at the top of the SPFL Premiership table – and clear on the goalscoring charts too.

Feeling good: James Tavernier celebrates making it 8-0 with Jermain Defoe. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Here’s three factors to take away from a memorable afternoon at Ibrox.

Kent coming back

It wasn’t vintage early season wing-play, or that of season 2018/19 but there were signs Ryan Kent’s form is rebuilding, bit-by-bit. The winger is someone who never hides but there’s not been the usual zest and zeal about him in the past six weeks or so, despite the same tricky moves and darting runs.

Scott Arfield celebrates with provider Ryan Kent after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Scottish Premiership match. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

But his influence increased against the sorry Accies with the ex-Liverpool man playing a central part in much of the first half’s attacking play.

All that’s missing continues to be a goal but having come close in midweek and this display, surely one is nearby.

Making hay against Hamilton

Defeating Celtic and the Parkhead side’s travails elsewhere have put Steven Gerrard’s side in the driving seat – with a margin for error. But as the saying goes, ‘make hay while the sun shines’ – and Rangers did exactly that against Hamilton.

While the going is good – and Rangers are in particularly impressive form at the moment – they need to make the most of it to maintain as many advantages in the title race as possible when they’ve yet to have their sticky patch this season.

Hitting eight is a healthy goal difference boost and as Neil McCann in the Rangers TV studio said ‘it could be as good as a point’. He should know after winning the 2003 title on a single goal of a difference.

Psychological battle

But as much as the league is won with results, and maybe in this case goals too, there’s also the psychological battle throughout the season.Celtic aren’t having the best time of it just now but their tails were up at 2pm after a 4-1 success at Motherwell. But while they were feeling better, the feelgood factor at Ibrox raised even further with the margin of Rangers’ victory – a win which was not only emphatic in number, but in response to the one-upmanship in the league leaders’ top two tussle.

‘Anything you can do, I can do better’ springs to mind.

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