Five star Rangers please manager Steven Gerrard

Five different goalscorers - Ryan Jack, Jermain Defoe, Scott Arfield, James Tavernier, from the spot, and Kyle Lafferty - were on target as Rangers finally won a game without the suspended Morelos.

Rangers had failed to win in five attempts during suspensions for Morelos this season and drew a blank in the first two matches of the Colombian’s current three-match ban - but were three up inside 24 minutes at the Hope Stadium.

Gerrard said: “It is pleasing because at times we have been over-reliant on Alfredo. We have definitely got the quality to create goals and score goals when he’s not available. That was the big positive, and the clean sheet as well.

“We were excellent first half. It’s difficult at 4-0, some people mentally switch off a little bit second half so I wanted to bring the subs on to bring more energy and purpose to our play and that’s what we did.”

Substitute NI international Lafferty came close on several occasions before netting his first Ladbrokes Premiership goal in five months two minutes from the end when he swept home a square ball from Daniel Candeias.

“It’s been coming,” Gerrard said. “I think he has been a little bit unlucky at times. But he has stayed with it.

“We know he has the quality to either come in, or even when he starts, to get numbers in his game and hopefully that will do him the world of good now and he can build on that.”