MICHAEL BEALE was pleased his half-time messages paid dividends for Rangers as he secured all three points on his Premiership bow as boss.
The Englishman marked his return to the competitive arena at Ibrox and received a warm welcome from the home crowd following his appointment as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's successor in the dugout.
Beale saw his side go in behind at the break as Ryan Porteous headed home from a corner and Kevin Nisbet scored just seconds after Fashion Sakala had brought the hosts level with a fine finish.
Rangers stepped it up a gear after the restart and Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos were on target to secure a crucial win that reduces Celtic's lead in the title race to six points.
It was an important victory for Beale as he got off and running at Ibrox and the 42-year-old has revealed the words of wisdom that inspired a rousing recovery against Lee Johnson's side.
Beale said: "I asked them just to stop for a minute. Stop what is in their mind. Let's just play football for 45 minutes how we practice every day.
"We hadn't done first half. I understand that. There is a lot of anxiety when you concede an early goal and you think when we equalise 'that is it, we will settle down'.
READ MORE: Five talking points as Rangers get off and running under Michael Beale
"We conceded straight away and you can feel the tension in the stadium. They are only human and a lot has happened in the last few weeks.
"I just asked them to listen and just commit to the style that we want to play and just really focus on it.
"Ultimately, for me, the more we focus on that, the closer we will get to how to performing how we want and that will lead to wins.
"I am a massive one on that. You get performance happy and result happy.
"Tonight, I am more result happy but the second half performance gave me optimism because at half time I was walking in thinking 'OK, this is going to be interesting'.
"Fair play to the players. They play. I can only give them a roadmap and I thought second half was much more like it."
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