Rangers return to action at Rugby Park tomorrow night aiming to extend their Scottish Premiership unbeaten run to 10 matches, a statistic that, on paper, suggests stability and resilience.
Their last league defeat came nearly three months ago - a 2–0 loss at home to Hearts on 13 September - a result that contributed to the pressure on former manager Russell Martin, who was eventually dismissed after a 1–1 draw away to Falkirk on 5 October.
Danny Röhl has since steadied results, but beneath the headline of “nine unbeaten” lies a far more conflicted story about performances, consistency and the fragility of Rangers defence.
While unbeaten in the league, Rangers have taken just four wins and five draws from that stretch. Their overall Premiership record - five wins, eight draws and one defeat from 14 games - reflects a team that avoids losing but struggles to assert itself and take the game to opponents.
That struggle is visible at both ends of the pitch, but nowhere more glaringly than in defence.
Rangers have conceded soft, avoidable goals in almost every recent outing.
Poor marking, weak individual duels, lapses in concentration, injury issues and structural gaps have repeatedly undone them at critical moments.
The 2–2 draw at Tannadice was merely the latest example: two goals conceded that were preventable, symptomatic of deeper defensive issues that have lingered since early in the campaign.
And yet Rangers have stayed alive largely because Jack Butland has been outstanding.
Poor last season and eventually dropped for understudy Liam Kelly by interim boss Barry Ferguson near the end of the campaign – the stopper has had a remarkable return to form and Rangers must be very thankful of it.
The goalkeeper sits joint-fifth in the Premiership clean-sheet table with four, but that ranking hides the extent of his contribution. He has made 39 saves in 14 league matches - a workload rarely seen for a Rangers No.1.
Time after time, Butland has bailed out a defence that has been too easily breached.
If the defence has been porous, the attack has been blunt. No Rangers player features in the Premiership’s top 10 scorers, and captain James Tavernier is the club’s only representative in the top 10 for assists - joint-third with a modest three.
In a team that creates periods of sustained pressure, the lack of a reliable creative threat or consistent goal scorer remains a major issue.
Despite all this, Rangers remain within reach.
They sit fourth, level with third-placed Motherwell on points but behind on goal difference, and hold a game in hand over Jens Berthel Askou’s side.
They are nine points behind Celtic and nine behind leaders Hearts, but again with a game in hand.
The challenge is clear: if Rangers can pair their resilience with a functioning defence and a sharper edge in attack, the table remains recoverable.
But if the defensive frailty persists, even an unbeaten run will not be enough to propel them into a title race.
Tomorrow at Rugby Park, Röhl seeks a 10th match unbeaten - but what Rangers truly need is a performance and a win that finally looks like