Former Rangers chairman Dave King believes that getting “in their faces” has resulted in the Light Blues usurping Old Firm rivals Celtic this season.

King made headlines in May 2018 for comments he made when the Parkhead club were on the way to nine successive Scottish Premiership titles which they clinched last season and four straight domestic trebles.

After appointing Steven Gerrard as boss, with the Light Blues still getting back to full strength after financial problems saw the club re-emerge in the bottom tier of Scottish football, King was asked how Rangers might close the gap and he said: “We appoint a manager who can win games, with more resources, and we take one league away from Celtic.

“We only need one league. We don’t need two or three. We need one. Once we take one away, it’s a pack of cards.”

The tables have turned this season and rampant Rangers are 21 points ahead of their bitter rivals at the summit having played two games more, with Hoops manager Neil Lennon and the Parkhead board under pressure from supporters, some of whom have been disgruntled for months following exits from Europe and the Betfred Cup.

King, speaking to the Rangers Connection podcast, said: “I spent a lot of time thinking about Celtic. That was the benchmark, that was the standard we had to get to.

“Looking at the performances of Celtic in their build-up to nine in a row I don’t think they were taking full advantage of the extra resources they had at that time.

“They had no real competition. Aberdeen ran them close a couple of seasons but with Celtic’s resources even that shouldn’t have happened.

“I just felt if we could have real go at them and get in their faces then I felt they could fold like a pack of cards.

“We just had to get in there and start competing with them. They’d had it too easy. They were dominating Scotland because they were in a league of their own from a resource point of view because of the absence of Rangers for effectively six seasons.

“I looked at their European performances and foreign teams weren’t giving them the respect they got in Scotland.

“I felt if we could get in their faces they would struggle.”

Rangers are moving closer to ending the Hoops’ quest for a record 10th successive title.

King, who stepped down as chairman last year after five years in the post, hopes he is witnessing the start of a new era at Ibrox.

He said: “I think next season we need to move on from this recovery phase and start building on what we have already.

“It’s not just one season of recovery. It’s important that we kick on from here, get into the Champions League, starting to do better in Europe.

“I really see this season as the beginning of the end of the previous situation and we will kick on to ever higher levels.”