Derek McInnes made a fair point after watching his side make fairly heavy weather of reaching the League Cup final at the expense of Aberdeen on Saturday.

He accepted the performance hadn't been all it might have been and put that partly down to the relative youth and inexperience of his side.

It is a factor probably not given due consideration when assessing where Rangers are right now.

Of the XI that started at Hampden, the most senior players were the 27-year-old pair of Dujon Sterling and James Penrice.

Seven of the starting team were 23 or under. That is a young team.

McInnes pointed it out as a reason why some of the positions the team get themselves into don't yield better results, principally in terms of chance conversion. The manager feels there is a lack of composure at times, a tendency to snatch at chances or to make the wrong decision.

It is an argument that carries some weight because in watching Rangers this season, you do get the sense they are passing up too many opportunities and not putting teams to bed.

McInnes believes that will come but stressed the importance of continuing to win while they learn to be more clinical and composed in the final third, which to be fair they have been doing - the semi-final win being their ninth in an unbeaten run that now extends to 11 games.

The last match before another international break comes this Saturday night in Paisley and it is imperative Rangers do not drop points for a third successive game on the road.

With Celtic losing on Sunday, Rangers need to be taking advantage of such results and reducing the gap at the top to one with a win over St Mirren and then hope Kilmarnock can produce an upset against the leaders on Sunday.