IT is no slight on Richard Foster nor his former colleagues to say that the Rangers sides he was a part of weren’t a patch on the current team, and having now seen them at close quarters, the full-back himself can’t argue with that assessment.

Foster and his St Johnstone teammates were given something of a chasing at Ibrox on Sunday as Steven Gerrard’s men romped to a 5-1 victory that moved them into second place in the table behind Hearts and a point clear of Glasgow rivals Celtic.

With Rangers now seeming to have recovered from their slow start to the domestic season just as Celtic show the first signs of a wobble since Brendan Rodgers strolled into town a couple of years ago, excitement levels among the blue half of the city are reaching fever pitch.

And as Foster reflected on what was a disappointing and chastening afternoon for his team, he was sporting enough to concede that the fans he used to play in front of on a weekly basis have every right to be getting worked up by what they are seeing from their heroes.

“The scoreline [on Sunday] was a reflection of their dominance and from our point of view that’s disappointing,” said Foster.

“They have pace in the wide areas and through the middle and get men forward, and this season they are far more dangerous than previous seasons.

“They got off to an iffy start in the league but have won their last two games and will be looking to really push on now.

“The results over the weekend are good for Scottish football and makes it competitive. We knew Rangers would get a massive lift with Celtic’s defeat and they were on the front foot.

“They probably seen it as a chance to put Celtic under real pressure and we’ve allowed them to do it which is disappointing, but we have another game on Wednesday night and a win over Celtic will put the Rangers defeat to bed.”

If St Johnstone are to do that by adding to Celtic’s recent woes on their travels, then they will have to be a lot better than they were at Ibrox. Tommy Wright was at a loss to explain his team’s uncharacteristic inability to press and make life difficult for their opponents on Sunday.

Celtic’s confidence may have taken a dent of late, but their quality will see them take advantage if they are afforded the same time and space as Saints offered to Rangers. And the last thing that Foster wants to do is offer any encouragement to a Celtic side that he feels will be under pressure to deliver a victory in Perth in order to maintain their manager’s impeccable winning run of 19 matches in cup competitions since he took over at the club.

“It’s never easy to face Celtic but they’re maybe not firing on all cylinders at the moment and if that continues on Wednesday night then we have a chance,” he said.

“If Celtic turn up and are the Celtic of two seasons ago or even last season then even if we play our best they will probably still beat us.

“But they’ll be feeling the pressure a little bit for the first time in three seasons and everyone expects them to win, we’re underdogs and in that sense it’s a good time to play them.

“We need to be clinical. The manager said we went to Ibrox and won 3-1 last season and created fewer chances than we did on Sunday.

“You need to score at Ibrox and Parkhead when you get those chances because they are clinical.”