Rangers take on a rejuvenated St Johnstone tonight with Craig Levein dragging the Perth outfit back up the table.
Philippe Clement has made an even bigger impact that the former Scotland manager and the Gers boss will be keen to build on the momentum of recent weeks with all three points at Ibrox.
Injuries and fitness doubts remain an issue for Rangers and the visit of St Johnstone would normally have been an opportunity for rotation.
Rangers v St Johnstone – team news announced
Starting at the back, the squad is actually in decent shape.
No missing full-backs or centre-halves and it came down to what Clement sees as the Saints biggest threat.
Leon Balogun missed the Real Betis game so the gaffer had to decide if he was fit enough to play the next three, or go to his bench.
One thing is obvious, the 35-year old is clearly first choice to partner Connor Goldson but John Souttar has come in.
At left-back, a similar question will have been mulled over for Borna Barisic, can he go again for the next three games or does playing Ridvan Yilmaz keep him fresh?
It was the young Turk who got the nod.
Midfield is an altogether different proposition.
Other than maybe dropping Todd Cantwell in alongside John Lundstram, the only option seemed to play Dujon Sterling.
He has also hardly played this season and looks like an incredible athlete.
Kieran Dowell has only just returned to fitness but comes in for his first start since September.
Todd Cantwell is rested and is still playing with strapping on his knee, hopefully he isn’t needed.
Again, the forward line also has a few issues.
Rabbi Matondo limped off against Real Betis, Scott Wright has only just come back into the squad and Kemar Roofe has only been used off the bench too but the 30-years old striker has returned to the starting XI.
There are options in the squad but this is who Rangers have gone with against St Johnstone to close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership to just two points:
Butland, Tavernier, Ridvan, Goldson, Souttar, Lundstram, Dowell, Lammers, Sima, Roofe, McCausland.
Momentum is a powerful thing in sport, so is the adrenalin rush built from winning games, especially big games like the two Philippe Clement has just guided us through.
Wholesale changes are a surprise, but the squad is stretched and they can’t all play every game.
