HOOK LINE® AND BLINKER

Race isn't over yet but it's getting close as Phil takes 'fun' bait... catch is to somehow make this group believable again as signs now point to Bren reeling in another title

- KEITH JACKSON

IT'S difficult to decipher exactly what went on at Ibrox yesterday amid all the ferocious chaos of Rangers' win over Kilmarnock.

Was this VAR-riddled victory over 10 men nothing more than a token gesture before, ultimately, the league title is conceded behind enemy lines at Celtic Park? Because there were moments when it did feel a bit like it.

Or, instead, was this spirited fourgoal comeback actually a sign that they're not ready to roll over for their rivals just yet? Because there were moments when it might have been that too.

The true answer will only reveal itself when the dust has settled across the city on Saturday afternoon.

But, for the time being, the head scratching will have to continue unabated because it's impossible to know with any certainty if Philippe Clement's players deserve to be taken as serious contenders. Or not.

Those doubts have been hanging over them ever since they wobbled so spectacularly at the most inappropriate of moments, when the opportunity was there for them to hit the front and open up a gap in this season's dash to the line.

And yesterday, as they battled back from the brink of another catastrophic capitulation, even their own fans didn't appear to be completely convinced.

They started heading for the subway in dribs and drabs with more than 10 minutes still on the clock and at a time when their team needed to be pushed and forcibly encouraged into dredging up one last superhuman effort in the hope of running up a more emphatic winning margin.

If they truly believe in the ability or the desire of this team to drag itself back to the top of the Premiership pile in the nick of time, then they wouldn't have been trying to beat the traffic.