Ryan Naderi urges Rangers to use new-found togetherness to make sure Old Firm derby double delight is no flash in the pan

In one sense, it was probably no bad thing for Rangers that they had no supporters to celebrate with in a corner of Celtic Park at time up on Sunday.

While the final whistle may have been a little anti-climactic as a consequence, there was no temptation to go over the score, to dance jigs of delight, to yell into a TV camera, as Steven Gerrard once did, or to embark on a lap of honour, à la Philippe Clement.

Instead, Derek McInnes’ men embraced each other, wore smiles as wide as the Clyde and enjoyed the moment. There was nothing excessive which could be clipped up and devoured on social media.

The manager’s words mirrored this. In his interviews, he rarely strayed from his line about his team only being three points closer to Celtic, even though the significance of the day felt greater than that.

Rangers have been here before, of course. Under different ownership, with other managers and with different players, the club has seen more false dawns than its long-suffering supporters would care to remember.

In 14 out of the last 15 campaigns, those sporadic moments of hope haven’t amounted to a hill of beans in the final reckoning. Pride has invariably come before a fall.

While there is clearly a mountain of work for McInnes’ players to get through before an accurate assessment of their season can be made, come what may this time around, no one will ram their words or the actions down their throats.

Although naturally elated to have scored the goal which secured a second victory over Celtic in a week for the Govan men, Ryan Naderi wouldn’t allow himself to be swept away by the wave of optimism that was washing over supporters watching in their homes and bars.

‘It’s awesome, to be honest,’ said the forward. ‘To win two times against Celtic and then go into a break is an amazing feeling. You will carry this throughout the whole days and weeks off.

‘We have to still understand that we have a whole season in front of us still. So, we should just keep this up, not fly too high, just stay focused and keep going as we are.

‘We have to stay together as a team, even in bad times and good times.’

That, for certain, is what McInnes now has on his hands. Notwithstanding how early on in his tenure it was, deep down, he must have privately doubted if the ramshackle bunch who lost in Jablonec a few weeks back could be moulded into a cohesive fighting unit so quickly.

Rangers, frankly, were a mess in those early weeks. They also drew with Dundee United, lost to Hibs and were eliminated from the Europa League by Jagiellonia Bialystok.

The fact that publicly questioning the suitability of a new manager after a handful of games was preposterous didn’t prevent many from doing so.

An unremarkable win at Aberdeen three days after that embarrassing episode in the Czech Republic has proven to be the first step on the road to redemption.

Three further routine victories preceded the meeting with Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup at Ibrox, a day when everything belatedly came together.

While McInnes’ men weren’t as clinical as they again defeated Celtic at Parkhead on Sunday, they were far more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

They played the better football but, most significantly, gave up next to nothing. This does not happen by accident.

‘I think you see this togetherness by the goals we concede, not many,’ added Naderi. ‘We play a lot of games to zero. That means that we just are very compact, we work together, look at each other, where the person next to you stands.

‘I think, defensively, when you’re so stable, you will always have chances to score, and then you win games.’

Perhaps no player in light blue epitomises the improvement in recent weeks more than Naderi.

While his industry has never been questioned, he wasted a lot of energy after first moving from Hansa Rostock for £4.7million in January and looked a little cumbersome.

He’s now channelling it more efficiently, making better runs, linking the play and showing a greater appreciation of how he fits into the grand plan.

He’s got guts, too. Naderi could have been excused for missing out on the final game before the international break after picking up an ankle knock from being clattered by Mika Baur last weekend. Wild horses wouldn’t have dragged him off the team bus.

‘Of course, it was hurting throughout the week,’ he said. ‘But I mean, those games, especially if you have a break afterwards, you can’t miss them.’

For the second straight Sunday, McInnes didn’t have a failure in his side. In Naderi, though, there could have been no more apt match-winner.

‘I think Ryan has been terrific,’ said the manager. ‘His sheer willingness means he deserves good things to happen to him. And I’m glad he’s managed to get himself on the scoresheet.

‘It was a big moment for him but also a big moment for us as a club.’

After a desperate start to the campaign, the break feels like it’s arriving at the wrong moment for the Ibrox men. While the league table still has them two points behind Celtic, they are the side with all the momentum which comes via six straight wins and two against your bitter rivals.

While no one was claiming anything had been won on Sunday, everyone present felt they had witnessed something significant.

‘It was really big honestly, really big,’ Naderi said. ‘After the win at home, we wanted to come here and show that we can do it away as well. (It was) an amazing fight from the whole team.

‘(We showed) a good spirit for the whole game and are just so happy to win here. It was just a team effort.’