'You don’t think about that' - Rangers star answers Celtic points deficit question

Rangers are paying little attention to Celtic as they focus on themselves in their quest to eat into the nine-point deficit at the top of the Scottish Premiership, claims John Lundstram.

For the third game running the Ibrox side went first, reducing the gap to their rivals to six points before Ange Postecoglou’s men could respond. Rangers defeated Ross County on Friday night, to go along with wins over Hibs and Aberdeen in Michael Beale's first three games in charge since replacing Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

It was Lundstram who netted the winner in the win at Dingwall but the Englishman revealed where the team's focus lies, even with an Old Firm clash at Ibrox on the horizon.

“You don’t think about that when you cross the white line, of course you don’t,” Lundstram said. “Obviously we are nine points behind and we want to try and reduce that deficit as much as we can. We go out to win every game and if that gets us closer to reducing the nine point deficit then that is great. But we are just concentrating on ourselves at the minute, trying to implement the gaffer’s style and getting better, that is really all we are trying to do. If that comes with reducing the deficit then great.”

Rangers were far from their best in the 1-0 victory over Ross County but kept their first clean sheet under Beale and just the third in the last 13 competitive fixtures. The team are still in the nascent stages of the bedding period under the new manager, while injuries have prevented him from having a number of key options available.

"We are trying to implement the game style and win games at the same time and get better”, Lundstram said. “And we have been carrying a lot of issues behind the scenes that you guys don’t always see. There are a lot of illnesses and a few niggles and injuries that we are playing with. So it has been good to get through those three games and a tough, tough week for us. To get the nine points is really satisfying.”