And rapport

And it was the impressive Aribo who helped Rangers round off the scoring as a neat pass through the Saints defence found Defoe and the 36-year-old completed his clinical double from close range.

Defoe said: “He [Aribo] is brilliant and I thought Davo was unbelievable, Jacko again. Joe has been brilliant since he has come in, he is fantastic. He keeps the ball. He glides by people. “With my second goal, I didn’t think he saw me but he played a clever pass through the defender’s legs. He is a fantastic talent.”

The goals that Defoe netted in quick succession were his seventh and eighth of the season. They have come in just 12 appearances. Morelos is undoubtedly the main man for Rangers but Gerrard can take comfort and satisfaction from knowing his former England teammate can chip in when required. “On a personal note, it is always nice to score goals and it was good,” he said. “Obviously the most important thing is to win the game. Sitting on the side, I did realise that if I came on I would get chances because second half we created so many chances and we dominated. It was nice to come on and get the two goals.

“I said to the referee ‘how long is left?’ and he said ‘90 seconds’ so I said ‘hold that whistle!’. “I had a volley that went over the stand and that was a chance, it probably came too early for me.

“It is always nice to score goals. It is something that gives you that buzz. But the three points were important. It is not an easy place to come and in the end it was a good win.” Victory at McDiarmid Park rounded off an encouraging week for Rangers. After seeing off Livingston and then Feyenoord, a third win on the spin kept Gerrard’s side within touching distance of Celtic. It wasn’t a complete performance but Defoe reckons Rangers can take plenty of positives. “Yeah, it was good and it was a game we had to win,” he said. “It was important in the second half that we tried to get an early goal, and we did. After that, we dominated and it was a good win.”