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Derek McInnes in frank Celtic admission as Rangers boss knows what must happen to wrestle with the champs Gers will face their bitter city rivals in consecutive weeks in the league and Premier Sports Cup next month Relieved Rangers boss Derek McInnes hailed his team after watching them finally kick-start their season - but admits they’ll need to improve again to get past Celtic. The Ibrox side put five past St Mirren to book a home quarter-final tie against Martin O’Neill’s side in the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup. It was fifth time lucky for the new Light Blues boss as he finally got off the mark following a torrid return to the club he served as a player. But with a raft of signings still to come, McInnes is confident they will be far stronger by the time they take on the Hoops over the weekend of September 12/13. He said: “I’m, delighted to be at home, obviously it's a mouth-watering tie. If you're going to win the trophy, you need to beat the better teams. "Obviously, Celtic coming here, which I think means we’ll face them two weeks in a row. It will be eagerly to anticipated by everybody. It will be something to look forward to. “Hopefully by the time that game comes around, we'll have a few more wins and the squad will be a lot more settled and a bit stronger than it is at the minute. Because it will need to be to wrestle with a team like Celtic.” Goals from Ryan Naderi, Vanja Dragojevic, Djeidi Gassama, debutant James Penrice and sub Ross McCausland did the damage to the holders St Mirren. Chris Mochrie briefly dragged the Paisley side back into the contest with a stunning strike which left the score 2-1 at the break. But Gers powered to victory after the break as they shook off a grim opening fortnight under their new gaffer. “There were so many positives from the game, good aspects,” he said.“I thought it was a strong start, I thought we scored two, we should have maybe scored more. “We looked a threat on counter-attack but we also built the game pretty well as well. “It's quite ironic, in the first game competitive game I’ve gone with one striker and we looked like more of a threat. “I thought we were very energetic in midfield, I thought our wider players contributed well. "We spoke about it at half-time, we were guilty of not doing the right things. We got into a position where we could have scored so many more goals, but wrong decisions, shooting too early, shooting too late, crossing too early, crossing too late let us down. “The game really shouldn't be put aside. St Mirren scored a very good goal, they capitalised on a bit of slackness from us. “I thought from the 10-15 minute period after that, we weren’t great in the game to be honest. I thought you see the fragility of the team again. A goal cannot just rock us like that, a goal against us. “But at the start of the second half we really stepped up again and got the job done. “I thought the quality of some of the goals, some of the play was really good and it gave the Rangers fans something to get behind because they've not really seen that enough. “Delighted to get through a tough time, scored five goals, should have scored more. There were still elements I'm not happy with, we gave up too many chances. “But I'm pleased for the players first and foremost because it's not easy when you're not getting wins. It's up to me to try and instil confidence, but it's also up to them to work for their confidence. “Doing the basics right, working hard, sticking together is important. I'm also pleased for the supporters, because I think there was a lot of optimism a few weeks ago and that hasn't been there the last wee while. “It's up to us to try and build on today. We are pleased with what the players gave us.” The first win of the season will lift some of the doom and gloom around Ibrox. And so will news that defender Ben Godfrey could be back soon to face Czechs Jablonec in Gers’ Conference League play-off. McInnes - who is still looking to add fresh recruits - said: “Ben will be registered in the European squad as it stands. He might not be fully fit for Thursday, but I think he will certainly be at the second leg as it stands.”