Rangers’ 4-2 win over Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday was Michael Beale’s 17th win in 19 games since taking over as manager.

He has successfully overcome every obstacle away from home in the Scottish Premiership with the only dropped points being the 2-2 Old Firm stalemate at Ibrox at the beginning of January.

Of course, the blotch on his copybook is the disappointing League Cup final showing but, in the main, he has galvanised a beleaguered squad and engineered a run of form that is title-winning.

The problem is the damage inflicted in the first half of the campaign under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, which has effectively killed off any hopes of reclaiming the league crown.

As we approach Beale's fourth month in charge of the Ibrox club however, it’s important to reflect on the great work he’s done thus far.

When he was unveiled in the Blue Room in late November Beale said the playing squad wasn’t as broken as people think and the evidence on the pitch tells us he is correct.

That’s not to say the squad doesn't need an overhaul come the summer. There will likely be numerous departures with contracts expiring and some whose pathway to the first team is congested.

The two January additions of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin have proven to be valuable signings and will undoubtedly improve the more games they play.

Prior to Beale’s return to Govan, Rangers were generally limp in attack. Under Van Bronckhorst, the Ibrox club posted a cumulative xG of 1.76 which was in stark contrast to the free-flowing Celtic, whose xG stood at 2.25.

Under Beale, Rangers have improved considerably when it comes to chance creation with their average xG rising to 2.26.

The weekend victory in North Lanarkshire was the second game in a row Rangers have scored four goals on the road with three or more goals scored in nine of the 14 Premiership fixtures Beale has been in the dugout for.

The improvements in the final third are plain to see and again if we cast our minds back to his very first press conference at Ibrox, it was an area Beale aimed to rectify.

“I'm excited to get the attacking players to operate with my ideas because I think they are capable of doing more,” he said.

“That's on the players first. The players go and play so it's important they take responsibility and play together.”

If we are to score his first four months in the Ibrox hotseat then he gets an A from this writer. He inherited a squad that was on its knees in terms of confidence although the raft of injuries Beale’s predecessor had to contend with should not be underestimated.

That being said, he has made Rangers enjoyable to watch once again and if he’s getting a tune out of this group of players then there should be plenty of optimism about what the team could look like next season.

He still has to negotiate three Old Firm hurdles on the horizon and as is the norm in Glasgow, failure to get the better of the other team usually means your stay in the city is relatively brief.

But, the signs are encouraging and, if he is able to learn from the mistakes made in the League Cup final, then Rangers will have a fighting chance of toppling their arch-rivals.

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It’s a view echoed by Ally McCoist who’s been impressed with Beale’s start to life as Rangers boss. “I think Michael has done well,” he said.

“I hope he’s given the time – and I’m sure he will – to get a couple of transfer windows behind him where he can make changes and build his own team and his own squad.

“In 14 league games, he’s won 13 and drawn one, which is absolutely excellent. But it’s a fact now that when you’re the manager of the Old Firm, the games between the two teams are probably as important as they’ve ever been, maybe even more important because when you look around the rest of the country, other teams are not taking points off the Old Firm as perhaps they once did.”

McCoist is bang on the money. With both teams taking care of business in the league then the derbies take on extra significance. Whether Rangers can emerge victorious in the remaining two Premiership fixtures and Scottish Cup semi-final remains to be seen but you get the impression a Michael Beale-led Rangers side will relish the challenges ahead and won't wilt under the pressure.