THE blueprint has always been to build from the back at Ibrox. Michael Beale now has the cornerstones of his Rangers team firmly in position.

Beale started his first match as manager with a handful of defenders on the books but two stand-in midfielders on the park. Rangers haven’t looked back since and two integral components of the side – Connor Goldson and Ben Davies – have gone from strength to strength as their relationship has flourished on both sides of the white line.

Victory over Hibernian in the middle of December was achieved with John Lundstram and James Sands answering a call of duty as the wretched injury situation that plagued Giovanni van Bronckhorst seeped into the first days of a new era. Rangers got away with it, but only just.

When Leon King was ruled out at short notice, Goldson phoned his boss and offered to play for the first time since hobbling off against Liverpool two months earlier. That act of selflessness was declined and Davies was fit enough to make the bench – and play the final three minutes - as Beale marked his return to Ibrox with a win.

Just days later, the task was even tougher. Goldson got through 90 gruelling minutes at Aberdeen with only a couple of sessions in the tank and the man that had been pinpointed as his partner at the start of the campaign got another half an hour under his belt.

A clean sheet in the win away to Ross County offered individual and collective positives and the settled defensive line – with James Tavernier and Borna Barisic either side – put in place for the win over Motherwell has become the foundation upon which Beale has built has unbeaten run as boss.

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Had Goldson not suffered that cruel injury against Liverpool at Ibrox, the past could have been very different. It is the future that Beale can focus on now, though, as Goldson and Davies tick off the matches and the victories and continue to show their worth in their own right and as a relationship that has evolved and improved with time.

Like he was for the first four years of his Rangers career, Goldson is the dominant figure at the heart of the defence. His partnership with Davies could have been formed before this term but it is what the pair do going forward that matters most as the vice-captain continues to lead by example alongside the latest figure to join him at the back.

“We looked at him for a long time and then Liverpool had an injury crisis and he went there,” Beale said of Davies, who made a £4million move from Anfield to Ibrox in the summer. “We would have got gazumped. But obviously I’ve come back and he’s here.

“He’s a boy I was aware of because I had watched a lot of videos under a previous management team. So I was delighted to receive him but obviously he was out injured for three or four weeks. I didn’t really know what I was getting but he is doing well.

“It’s all about partnerships, isn’t it? I think centre half is all about the partnership. Connor Goldson has built big partnerships here during his time.

“First of all with Niko Katic, then with (Filip) Helander and then a really strong partnership with (Leon) Balogun. He built another one with (Calvin) Bassey and now he’s building one with Davies.

“There’s a time when Connor won’t be fit either. But with our injury record this season you are making me nervous talking about it.”

There is a train of thought which suggests that Beale would not have been back at Ibrox had Van Bronckhorst not suffered such dreadful misfortune in terms of injuries. By the end of his tenure, his squad was depleted and deflated as makeshift sides were outclassed in the Champions League and saw their Premiership ambitions suffer a series of costly blows.

Goldson and Davies were fit and available too late to save the Dutchman but their returns to action were timely for Beale and they are two of the first names on the team sheet right now as John Souttar continues his lengthy rehabilitation, Helander watches on from afar and Leon King struggles to get a look in.

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It was a case of needs must in the early days of Beale’s reign. He is thankful for the efforts of both, though, as Goldson and Davies have played their part in ensuring Rangers have been able to keep the results and the momentum ticking over.

“Those two guys didn’t have a long rehab,” Beale said. “They were literally back training and the next day back in the team.

“You want to manage things and that’s probably been the one frustration I’ve had that we’ve not really been able to breathe other than Motherwell at home.

“We haven’t been able to rotate the way we would have wanted, moved players out with 20 minutes to go.

“We’ve had to work really hard. That’s why when I hear people question the mentality I can’t have that.

“I know where we’re at as a group and what the boys have delivered for me since I came back to the club.

“I can’t talk about before because I wasn’t in the building. Since I have been back in I have been delighted with the group.”

In time, the makeup of the defensive ranks that Beale has at Ibrox may well change. Goldson will be – like he was during Beale’s first stint in Glasgow under Steven Gerrard – the ever-present and the figure that leads by example but his partner could be chopped and changed to suit the domestic or European requirements.

Beale has refused to write off the Rangers career of Helander and he has yet to see what Souttar is capable of in his side. King remains a prodigious talent but the competition for places will increase after the summer transfer window.

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Having four centre-back options would be a welcome position for Beale. He knows all too well just what life is like when the situation is different and the options are limited.

“Football doesn’t wait for anyone, football moves on,” Beale said. “But you’ve seen that since Goldson has played with Davies results have improved.

“That’s because they are two proper centre backs. In my first game we had two midfielders at centre half.

“If you look at not having Goldson, Helander, Davies and John Souttar then there’s a reason why certain results come your way.

“If you look at the list of players that have been missing you’re asking others to stand up and that’s the conversations I’ve been having in here.

“I’ve asked them to stand up for each other and they’ve done that. But every three days you play again and there’s another challenge around the corner.”

The first weeks of Beale’s management have been overwhelmingly positive in terms of results but the fluctuation in performance levels still causes angst in the dugout and the stands. In time, both aspects must be combined.

The Englishman has given himself a platform at least. As relationships are enhanced across the pitch and the Beale methodology takes hold, Rangers will become even more equipped to deal with all that their Premiership counterparts throw at them each week.

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“I’ve worked in a number of leagues now and people always ask about our league here,” Beale said. “It’s difficult. Let’s be clear about that.

“In Europe the teams play in front of you and you can go and press them. In Scotland they make it about the red zones, the two ends of the pitch.

“They put the ball there. Every time there’s a set play it comes in. That’s a different kind of defending, that’s defending under pressure. Every game is like a cup tie.”