Derek McInnes believes Rangers’ emphatic three-goal win over Celtic has given his new-look squad a reference point as they look to go from strength to strength.Coming either side of Kevin Kelsy’s strike, skipper Dan Neil’s double eased the Ibrox men towards victory in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, with a Hampden date against Aberdeen now on the horizon.The better team throughout a one-sided contest, Rangers put their early-season woes behind them with a convincing show which saw McInnes claim victory in his first experience of managing in an Old Firm clash.Although acutely aware of the fact that his side must replicate their performance at Celtic Park in the Premiership next Sunday, the Ibrox boss felt his players set a standard to which they must now try and adhere.‘Yeah, I think it’s a good reference,’ said McInnes. ‘Obviously, when you’re playing against a team like Celtic, you are not going to get it all your own way.‘I think we had to do so much right in the game to try and find any sort of advantage. I thought we asked a lot of the players today, particularly out of possession, to make sure that they did their work well. Derek McInnes lapped up the celebrations at full-time after sweeping rivals Celtic aside‘We had to play with a bit of risk and we exposed them to a lot of one-on-ones in certain areas. But I just felt as though for us to tap into the crowd, we had to go and play the way we did today.‘It’s all right me seeing it in my head how it plays out. The players have to go and deliver the performance — running the hard yards, winning the challenges, winning the one-on-ones.‘We scored goals in good times, something we’ve not been doing. And the quality of the goals were terrific today.‘I think getting goals in good times helped us. Once we get the third goal, you start to feel that maybe they’re going to get the job done. But we still have work to do against a team like Celtic because it can change.’The commanding performance came just two and a half weeks since Rangers were knocked out of the Conference League on penalties by Czech side Jablonec.On the improvement he’s seen in that short period, which has now culminated in five straight domestic wins, McInnes said: ‘I do feel when we look back, it’s the one defeat we have had in the last eight games and it was a sore one.‘The performance that night was in complete contrast to today because it was a big game for us as a club.‘To deliver such a lacklustre performance, a performance that I wouldn’t want to put my name to… I had to deal with that.‘I know the consequence of that. But we have to say, we didn’t look ready as a club to deliver that and we should have been.‘So, there’s a shared responsibility with that. Obviously, the majority of responsibility lies with me. But the performance today was exactly what was required. I’m pleased that, since that game, we’ve come quite a long way.’ McInnes believes his new-look squad are starting to gel after a difficult start to the seasonAfter overseeing a summer of transition, McInnes feels those players who he now has at his disposal have helped created the kind of culture he’s looking for.‘I think the dressing room is exactly how I need my dressing room to be,’ he said. ‘I need us to take care of each other, I need us to love each other, I need us to be there for each other.‘The last three weeks, it started to feel like a dressing room that I identify with.’McInnes boldly played a front two of Ryan Naderi and Kelsy with left-back James Penrice asked to try and make up the extra man in midfield when possible.‘I’m not going to praise people for their work rate, because that’s what they should be doing anyway,’ he insisted.‘I thought we never really gave Celtic a minute. When we couldn’t get full press on, we got into a lower block and we were nice and compact.‘But there’s two sides to it. There’s the part you need to be really strong when you’re going on the ball, but you also have to join in and take part in the game and show your aggression. And I thought both lads did that.’Equally as effusive in his praise for two-goal Neil, McInnes said: ‘His two goals were brilliant, different types of finishes.‘He gets the light shining on him a wee bit today because of the goals, but I thought his performance was really strong as well.’Asked what the win might do for his players’ confidence, McInnes said: ‘I think that you get a lot of good if they win a derby game. Because we need to get the buy-in from the fans.‘We need the players to think that what we’re doing is right as well. I think we take the good from it, the confidence, but it can quickly change.‘We need to keep our shoulder to the wheel. And you can see next week as well, we’ve got preparation to get ready for that one with Celtic next week and they are not going to just let us get away with that.‘They’ll come back again next week, and we’ve got to be ready for that as well.’