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Rangers boss Danny Rohl insists there is a renewed sense of harmony and confidence around the club after his players claimed a hard-fought win away at Hibs.
Danilo scored the only goal of the game after five minutes as Rangers secured a victory at Easter Road which moves them up to third in the Premiership table.
They now sit five points behind Celtic and 11 points behind Hearts, with some fans believing that they could yet mount a title challenge despite a disastrous start to the campaign prior to Rohl’s arrival last week.
Rohl and the players were lauded by the travelling support at full-time and the German head coach believes everyone at the club is now singing from the same hymn sheet.
Praising the resilience of his players for grinding out the win, he said: ‘The clean sheet and the win is always fantastic.
Danilo celebrates with his Rangers team-mates after grabbing the only goal against Hibs
Danny Rohl takes the acclaim of the Rangers supporters after the victory at Easter Road
‘It’s the first clean sheet in one year [away from home]. To come here and beat a team unbeaten in 16 games [at home in the Premiership] is fantastic.
‘My team put a lot of things into this game. Great effort and great fighting spirit. All the things you need in football.
‘I’m very proud of my team today. You hope and cross your fingers that you can save the ball and Jack [Butland] did a fantastic thing for the group. We needed that moment.
‘What I really liked at the end of the match was the way the fans and players came closer together. The fans recognise what we are doing and it’s great to have that support and spirit after only one week.
‘Maybe one week ago [after 3-0 Europa League defeat to Brann] we were all far away from each other. But now we are much closer and it’s great to see.
‘It’s crucial. If you look back two weeks ago, it was maybe a tough place [around the club] but since I’m here I feel so much support in my direction.
‘It’s fantastic and it is important to give my players these two minutes with the fans at the end because they deserved it.’
Asked about confidence heading into Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final clash with Celtic at Hampden, Rohl said: ‘We spoke about creating momentum.
‘We made the step last Sunday against Kilmarnock and this was the next step. We have won two games in a row and this helps.
‘But there are short memories in football, we have two wins so let’s continue in the next games.’
Meanwhile, Hibs boss David Gray believes his team were unfortunate to lose despite rarely troubling Butland in the Rangers goal.
‘It’s tough to take,’ he said. ‘I don’t think it’s as if we’ve been beaten by the better side. We gifted them a goal and didn’t really create many chances after that.
‘Did we do enough? Probably not. That was down to a lack of quality from us. We certainly got into good areas and had the best two chances [in the second half], including missing a penalty, which was a massive moment.
‘The disappointment is going to sting but there’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves.’
