Pedro so happy to see plan come off

PEDRO CAIXINHA was pleased Rangers’ efforts on the training ground paid off at Ibrox as his side beat Partick Thistle on Saturday.

The Portuguese picked up his third win as Light Blues boss as goals from Kenny Miller and Jon Toral clinched a 2-0 win over the Jags.

Rangers struggled to get going at Ibrox but Miller broke the deadlock as he headed home James Tavernier’s cross beyond Jags keeper Tomas Cerny late in the first half.

Toral then made sure of the points just after the break as he swept home after neat play from Emerson Hyndman on the edge of the area.

And boss Caixinha admits getting the first goal was crucial for his side as they ground out a much-needed Premiership win.

He said: “It’s always important, as I told you keeping a clean sheet is important and scoring the first goal is a huge advantage.

“The data says that at least 40 percent of teams that score the first goal win matches so we want to take that advantage.

“It was a fantastic goal, and fantastic combination between Emerson and Jon for the second one.

“But regarding the first goal it was one of the things that we work on during the week.

“We call it the supported switch of play in order to release one player on the wide area and we want them to explore more on a one v one situation where he can attack the space, attack the defender or place a cross like James’.

“The first 30 minutes I didn’t like it at all. Once again I think the opponent got on the game better than us.

“We did very good things after that. I think the last 15 minutes were more like what we were expecting from ourselves from this game.

“The first 20 minutes of the second half in which we scored we had good chances, good football and we were enthusiastic and connected with the crowd.”