Mark Hateley reckons Rangers are odds-on to retain their title, as he insists it was Steven Gerrard's second string that won on Sunday.
The Ibrox side charged to the Premiership crown last season, finishing 25 points clear of rivals Celtic, although the gap appears to have narrowed over the summer.
Ange Postecoglou 's team are vastly improved, while Rangers - who lost just twice in 90 minutes in all competitions last season - have already lost three games.
Their formidable Premiership unbeaten record has gone too with Dundee United turning them over at Ibrox.
However, they bounced back from that with back to back league wins - one of which against Celtic in the first derby of the season.
That was enough to convince Hateley that Rangers may have actually improved on last season - and have what it takes to retain the trophy.
He told BETDAQ : "I’m expecting a closer title race than last season, but I still see Rangers finishing on top.
“That quality is still there from last year where they finished unbeaten. I know they’ve already been beaten this season, but you reset and you go again.
"The squad is the same level if not stronger than last season and as Steven Gerrard says, they’re just waiting for that trigger to kick on again this season, to play the way they did last year.
“Rangers are getting back to the form of last season again. Rangers will take that Celtic result forwards, it’s always good to be the victors of the first Old Firm game of the season. It sends out a signal.
"It sends a message out to all the contenders that are looking to win the league. And it sends a huge message as it wasn’t Rangers’ first-choice side that played against Celtic.
"It puts the team in a good frame of mind and a good spot for the rest of the season.”
Rangers were without a number of key players for the derby win, with both goalkeepers, both right-backs and other key players missing out.
Hateley feels it was closer to a "second choice" team that edged Celtic out, and says that bodes well for the future.
He went on: “It was more like a second XI that beat Celtic. You’re looking at a third-choice right-back, a third-choice goalkeeper… There were players out injured and with Covid that would have started on the day, but Rangers have still gone out there and put on a performance.
"Celtic had a lot of possession but never really troubled Rangers.”
