Giovanni van Bronckhorst insists Rangers gave Livingston too much hope and admitted Fashion Sakala’s goal settled any nerves.
The Light Blues dominated in West Lothian but after racing into a two-goal lead through Scott Arfield and a peach from Joe Aribo they allowed David Martindale’s men back into it.
Bruce Anderson capitalised on sloppy defensive play and Allan McGregor pulled off an unbelievable save from Alan Forrest to preserve their lead.
But it wasn’t until substitute Sakala headed home from a corner in the latter part of the game that the points were safely in the bag.
And van Bronckhorst, who now boasts two wins from his opening two games, told Sky Sports: “We kept Livingston too long into the game and the header of Sakala was a relief because it was 3-1 and after that we kept the ball and didn’t give them any chance to play any more.
“We controlled the game, we had a great start in the first 20, 25 minutes. We knew the chances would come in that manner with Scott making his run into the spaces.
“The first goal was excellent and the second goal was also really good. Good positional game from outside and a great shot by Joe.
“After that we lost the intention of playing a little bit and also the speed of play - we were a bit sloppy - and 2-1 made it a real game.
“We were more in control in the second half and didn’t give any chances away but if you have so much control of the game you have to make sure you finish it as early as possible.
“If you go to these games - away at Livingston - it can be very hard because they are very physical and play a lot of long balls.
“It was important to start well and defend the second ball really good and the only time we got exposed was with the goal they scored.
“But overall it’s been a really good performance from the team. Of course, we’ll always have departments in our game where we can improve but we’ll do that.
“If you keep playing games like this then it gives confidence to the players and we have two more days to prepare for Hibs on Wednesday so it’s more steps we can take in our game.”
