http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/9164991.stmRangers manager Walter Smith acknowledged the contribution of striker Kyle Lafferty after his team's 3-1 away win over St Mirren.
A limp first half was transformed by Lafferty's introduction at the break.
His glancing header was nodded into his own net by Marc McAusland then he set up Steven Naismith for Rangers' second.
Smith said of the Northern Irishman: "He did make a difference. He added mobility to our front lot. He did very well today and I am pleased for him."
After their midweek Champions League defeat in Valencia, for Rangers it was back to the routine of the Scottish Premier League and the challenge of earning three points to leapfrog Celtic at the top of the table.
The closest they came was when Lafferty's countryman Steven Davis rattled the bar with a free-kick as St Mirren defended stoutly.
In Smith's only substitution of the game, he removed diminutive Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss and sent Lafferty on in his place.
"We required a step up in the pace of the game," Smith told BBC Scotland.
"In the first half, we had a lot of possession, but we were never quick enough with it, we never penetrated St Mirren, who made it difficult for us to get through them.
"There has to be quickness of passing. We knew we had to lift the game to a fair degree in the second half.
"The first 25 minutes of the second half was our best spell of the game. We were far better and we deserved to win."
With a relatively small squad for domestic and Continental competition, Smith has limited scope to rest players.
But he was pleased at the manner in which his team lifted things after the interval at St Mirren Park.
"Trying to balance the players that we're playing with the games is not always easy for us," added Smith.
"But the whole team stepped up a level at the start of the second half."
