PHIL’S DON A WONDERFUL JOB SO FAR..

ONLY 129 days separated Aberdeen’s two visits to Ibrox this season but they may as well have been aeons apart.

September 30 proved to be the bleakest of afternoons for Michael Beale as the frayed strands holding together his Rangers reign finally snapped.

The Londoner couldn’t escape the furious boos that greeted the final whistle – despite darting straight down the tunnel – as his side slumped to a 3- 1 defeat.

Neither could he dodge the fate that crashed down on him 24 hours later as the board concluded enough was enough.

Fast forward to Tuesday night and the Dons’ second visit to Govan, the darkness of that dismal September day had gone.

Now Ibrox was lit up with a blaze of belief somehow conjured by Philippe Clement as his side held off Neil Warnock’s team to pull themselves back level on points with Celtic.

So how has the big Belgian ( above) pulled it off? Skipper James Tavernier insists the tweaks have been minor but their impact has been major on a team he insists can still improve.

The 32- year- old ( below) said: “We knew we had the players, we knew the quality was always there.

“Small tweaks and tactical things within the team have been made and there’s a real togetherness too. We’re showing grit and the mentality the gaffer wants. Since he came in, we’ve gone from strength to strength.

“You get a feel when things are going well and we have that momentum behind us at the moment. It’s up to us as players to keep that going. We knew coming into the Aberdeen game we needed to take all three points, no matter how well we played.

“We knew it might be an n ugly game but we actually played really good football and got all three points. The manager has put us in a really good place.

“The intensity that we’re e doing behind the scenes on n the training ground is really picking up.

“And you can see that with the performances we’re putting in week in, week out.

“We’re growing as a team and there are still areas we can improve on, which is a good thing. We are growing but Tuesday night was a matter of getting three points no matter how we did it. We just got that and we move on to the next one now.”

n JOSE CIFUENTES has sealed his Rangers exit by joining Brazilian side Cruzeiro on a 12- month loan.