THE Rangers supporters are, after enduring so much heartache and trauma on and off the field in the last few years, desperate for the Ibrox club to secure a place at the forefront of Scottish football as soon as is possible.

So, it was understandable if their reaction to the 3-0 win over Peterhead yesterday and the 6-2 triumph over Hibs eight days earlier was, as impressive as much of their side’s play was in both of those outings, perhaps a touch excessive.

The home team’s fans in the 25,068 crowd which filed through the turnstiles at the Govan stadium generated quite a din as their heroes battered the opposition goal towards the end of the 90 minutes.

The excitement and optimism about the group of players Mark Warburton has brought in since being appointed back in June, not to mention the English manager himself, was palpable throughout the ground.

It should be remembered their rivals in this League Cup first round match were part-timers. Far more difficult adversaries will await in the second tier as they endeavour to win promotion to the top flight at the second time of asking.

Indeed, St. Mirren, who they take on in their first Ladbrokes Championship match of the 2015/16 campaign on Friday evening, should be far more difficult to overcome.

Warburton himself was certainly not getting carried away with the display or with the result last night. As pleased as he was to prevail in his first competitive outing at Ibrox, he was unhappy that his charges had been unable to capitalise more on their superior pressure and possession.

Much of their play was pleasing to the eye. The sharp passing, constant movement and searing pace was too much for the visitors to cope with at times. Barrie McKay, James Tavernier and Lee Wallace all enjoyed fine games.

But if Rangers fail to convert their chances against Championship sides who can offer more going forward than Peterhead did in the coming months then they will be punished for their lack of ruthlessness.

It may seem unfair to criticise a team which has now netted nine times in two games for their finishing. Warburton, though, believes there is room for improvement in his side’s play in the final third of the park.

“I very much enjoyed the fans and the tremendous stadium,” he said. “It was important we put on a good display and it was a good result at the end of the day against a tough team in what was a tough challenge for us. But we have got to learn to be more clinical in front of goal in order to get our just rewards.

“It’s important to us to keep working on breaking teams down and keep moving the ball. I was delighted with how we performed, but I just want the players to get their rewards. They worked really hard today, created a lot of chances and could have been very respectfully a lot more ahead.”

Kenny Miller was left on the substitutes’ bench for the second weekend running. But for the second weekend running the former Scotland internationalist came on and netted to further his claims for future inclusion in the starting line-up.

“I have never forgotten what Kenny can do,” said Warburton. “Remember, he was two weeks behind with pre-season. He had a calf strain, came back with an injury and fell behind in training. He made that up.

“He made an impression against Burnley, did well against Hibs last week when he scored two goals and against Peterhead today he was absolutely outstanding. So it’s important for us to utilise Kenny’s quality and make sure we maximise it throughout the course of a long season.”

Jim McInally, the Peterhead manager, claimed his “kamikaze” tactics had played in the hands of Rangers as the game wore on. He believed that encouraging his team to push for an equaliser had enabled the other side to build on the goal which David Templeton had netted shortly before half-time.

Still, McInally, who led the Balmoor club to a famous victory on his last visit to Ibrox three seasons ago, rated his rivals, who progressed to the next round thanks to late strikes from substitute Kenny Miller and Man of the Match Tavernier, highly.

“Rangers are probably Premiership standard and it was always going to be tough,” he said. “We played Dundee at this stage last season and it was every bit as difficult. That was a tough day at the office for them but they’ll learn from it.

“In the second half I exposed them. We’d gone in a goal behind, it was a cup tie and there were a lot of people down from Peterhead. I thought: ‘Let’s try and put some guys up the park and score’. If it had been a league game we’d probably have sat and looked for damage limitation.

“But we finished with four or five strikers on the pitch even if we couldn’t get the ball to them. It’s not the way I like to play but I felt under pressure to try and get us up the park.”