Derek Johnstone: Rangers must handle the pressure at Pittodrie to get back on track in the Premiership

The win over Queen of the South on Tuesday night was more than welcome and there were plenty of positives to take out of the performance as well.

But after a poor few weeks in the Premiership, Rangers need to get back on track and put a sustained run of form together. Victory against Aberdeen would be the ideal start in that regard.

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There is pressure on every game when you are at Rangers. When they dropped points against Hamilton they were under pressure and people were starting to ask if they were going to be good enough this season.

Then came the Kilmarnock game, the defeat to Celtic and the result against Ross County has brought more scrutiny and criticism.

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The knives are out from certain people already for the manager and some of the players are getting a bit of stick. That is what you expect when you are at a big club.

Rangers are back in the Premiership and they are expected to go out and win games. It doesn’t matter if you have got eleven new players in the side, the nature of the beast at Rangers is that you have to win games.

When you are at that club, you have got to be the best. We all know that second is nowhere in Glasgow. You are either first or nowhere, it is as simple as that.

The manager has only had a couple of months in the league but he will now know what Rangers Football Club is all about. He maybe thought he knew before this season but what has happened in the last couple of weeks will have opened his eyes.

You learn the hard way at Rangers. Mark’s side have dropped points and he has come in for criticism. That is something that every Rangers manager has encountered and people will have told him that was coming.

A win over Aberdeen on Sunday would take a bit of heat off him and hopefully it could kick-start what has so far been a disappointing Premiership campaign.

I think I won twice in 13 years at Pittodrie and that was at a time when we were winning league and winning trophies. We just couldn’t get a result up there.

They did have Leighton, McLeish and Miller and were very solid at the back. They had a great side and we did struggle up there. It is not the same these days, of course, but Aberdeen are very resilient.

Rangers have to believe they are going there to win the game. It would be great to get one over on Aberdeen this early in the season.

The three really hard games are Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts and there is so much at stake during these fixtures.

The Aberdeen fans will be baying for Rangers, the flak will be flying and the players will get pelters from the stands. But they have got to get on with it and the best way to silence the fans is to win the game.

Go out there, outplay them and walk off with your held high and the three points secured. That is the best thing you can do.

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Aberdeen didn’t have a great start to the season but they are starting to play a bit now. Derek McInnes has signed some useful players and they are good in the forward areas.

They are a good side and they are hard to beat, especially at Pittodrie.

But Rangers are going up there with a bit of confidence after the game in midweek and the lads will be feeling better about themselves.

They did well against Queens and the difference was that they took their chances. I thought they played well, they moved the ball a lot quicker and the midfield looked sharper.

There were a couple of times when they were a bit slack defensively but they looked good as a unit.

Andy Halliday got a new lease of life being the captain and Niko Kranjcar came on to a game as the night went on. We have missed Jason Holt’s energy over the last few weeks and hopefully he is OK for the game on Sunday.

Rangers go there in a better frame of mind and they will have to be positive. They will give Aberdeen problems going forward and hopefully they are up to the task defensively as well.

Rangers will have got a lift from Tuesday night, but that won’t last if they were to lose on Sunday. It is an important game and the manager and David Weir will know that this is a massive test.

If Rangers are to get something out of the game, they will need to be at their best. The players, and the manager, know what the reaction will be if they don’t win the game and they know the criticism that will come from the Press and the fans. That is the pressure at Rangers and you have to prove that you can handle it.

The team is looking better but it is a massive test at Pittodrie. Hopefully it is one that Rangers can pass.