Gio van Bronckhorst on vital Rangers role for fringe stars in ramping up Celtic title pressure

Rangers boss Gio van Bronckhorst hailed his fringe stars for keeping the title race pressure on Celtic.

The Ibrox gaffer rested key stars ahead of their Europa League semi-final against RB Leipzig on Thursday night at Fir Park.

But squad players Scott Wright and Fashion Sakala stepped up to the plate in Lanarkshire and helped Gers to a 3-1 win.

The victory closed the gap at the top of the Premiership to three points ahead of Celtic’ s visit to Ross County tomorrow.

Van Bronckhorst was delighted with the display of Wright in particular, as well as his side’s performance with 10 men after Leon Balogun’s first half red card.

The Dutchman, who saw Wright grab a brace and James Tavernier convert a penalty, said: “Wright and Sakala were very useful, they’ve both got qualities.

“They’re quick and fast with the ball and their movement is good too.

“They had a slightly different role when we went down to 10 men but they still caused a lot of danger.

“I’m really happy for Scotty to score twice.

“It worked out well for us today even after the red card. You just have to make sure you create the chances.

“And although we had a man less, the players did what we wanted and with 10 men, we had other chances to score.”

Former Aberdeen winger Wright was delighted with his contribution and pleased to grab a rare chance to start.

He says his second goal - a terrific effort from the edge of the box - was just reward for his patience and resilience.

And despite putting heat on Celtic before they go to Dingwall with just five games left in the title race, he says Rangers are only concentrating on themselves.

Wright said: “I’ll need to claim the first goal today as well even if it was a bit of a jammy in the box!

“But I was delighted