A blistering first-half showing ended the game as a contest at the half-time interval as John Souttar marked his first start since returning from injury with a goal alongside a brace from Ianis Hagi.

A fourth of the afternoon then arrived from the penalty spot – the first time in the league for the Light Blues this season – as James Tavernier rounded off an impressive attacking showing.

The Gers began with three changes to the side from the midweek triumph over Union Saint-Gilloise, with Hagi returning to the side alongside a new-look central defensive partnership of Souttar and Clinton Nsiala.

In those two Rangers certainly had significant set-piece prowess, which almost paid dividends inside five minutes when a Hagi corner was nodded goalwards by Nico Raskin and Souttar was unfortunate not to help the effort towards the County goal himself.

Predictably, the match had settled into attack versus defence as the Light Blues sought a way to unpick the visitors’ defensive rearguard.

And they duly did so on 17 minutes in a move initiated by an unerring diagonal pass from Nsiala, allowing Vaclav Cerny to skip inside and, when his initial effort was palmed into a dangerous area by County goalkeeper Jordan Amissah, Hagi was on hand to stroke the rebound into the bottom corner.

Rangers certainly had their tails up, and one almost became two three minutes later when Cerny showed clever footwork at the byline and picked out Hamza Igamane, but the Moroccan could only steer his finish off target.

All that was missing from the early endeavour exhibited by the Light Blues was a second goal to provide a comfort blanket in the contest, which, right on cue, was engineered on 24 minutes.

Cyriel Dessers was manhandled to the ground on the edge of the penalty area, teeing up a free-kick opportunity for Hagi whose resulting dipping effort took a wicked deflection off Jonathan Thomkinson in the County wall and wrong-footed a helpless Amissah.

The Highland outfit had been unable to muster anything from an attacking perspective, but they almost reduced the arrears immediately when Akil Wright wriggled free from a corner and worked Jack Butland with an admittedly tame header.

The siege of the County goal down the opposite end continued from those in royal blue as Jefte stung the palms of Amissah with a sweetly-taken volley at the far post.

Indeed, Clement’s men hit their Highland visitors for six in the earlier meeting between these two sides at Hampden in August and they were threatening to rack up a similarly emphatic scoreline when they stretched their advantage ten minutes prior to the interval.

Hagi was at the heart of the action once more as his corner was flicked on by Raskin and met at the far post by Souttar who steered his finish high into the roof of the net and beyond Amissah.

With the game effectively put to bed in a rampant first 45 minutes, Clement sent for Bailey Rice at the half-time interval as the Academy graduate replaced Mohamed Diomande.

The 18-year-old midfielder almost made an immediate impact on the goalscoring front when he strode onto a Hagi cut-back and drew an impressive stop at full stretch from Amissah.

Any signs that Rangers were set to relent in the second period had been dispelled by their start to the second half when they had the ball in the net for the fourth time in the afternoon when Souttar bundled home his second, but their celebrations were curbed by the far side linesman who spotted an offside by Dessers as James Tavernier took aim.

It was damage limitation from a County perspective as the game lulled into a period where Rangers had plenty of possession and were content on limiting any opportunities for Don Cowie’s side to salvage a lifeline.

An acrobatic effort from Igamane was worth the effort when a cross was lifted in the Moroccan’s direction, but it sailed well off target and was no trouble for the County goalkeeper.

There was still time for the Light Blues to add a fourth of the afternoon with 12 minutes remaining when Kacper Lopata hauled Dessers to the floor from a corner and, on the sound of referee Steven McLean’s whistle, Rangers were awarded their first league penalty of the campaign.

Tavernier assumed spot-kick duties and made no mistake from 12 yards in dispatching the spot-kick into the bottom corner to cap off an emphatic afternoon.

RANGERS: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar (Propper, 61), Nsiala (Fernandes, 79), Jefte, Raskin, Diomande (Rice, 45), Hagi (Bajrami, 73), Cerny, Igamane (Lawrence, 73), Dessers

Subs not used: Kelly, McCausland, Curtis, Nsio

ROSS COUNTY: Amissah, Wright, Randall, Chilvers (Ashworth, 84), Phillips (White, 60), Thomkinson, Campbell, Lopata, Nisbet (Allardice, 45), Robesten (MacLeod, 84), Kenneh (Brown, 45)

Subs not used: Laidlaw, Hale, Harmon, Smith