Rangers midfielder Bongani Zungu has warned his teammates against complacency as they continue their push for the Premiership title.
The Gers extended their unbeaten league run to 22 matches on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Celtic, thanks to Callum McGregor's own goal in the 70th minute.
Zungu came off the bench as an 87th-minute substitute for Ryan Kent in the fixture which stretched their lead in the table to a 19-point gap above second-placed Celtic.
The 28-year-old said they are starting the New Year as a new season to continue their impressive run of results.
“This is not over. There is a lot of work still to be done and a lot of games still to be played,” Zungu told Glasgow Times. “From that point of view, we need to keep our feet on the ground and focus immediately on the next game.
“We have told ourselves already that we need to start the New Year as if the league has just started. That has to be our starting point and our motivation for the second half of the season.
“In our minds we are back to zero points and we go again. Everyone is hungry, everyone wants to play and everyone wants success.”
Zungu, who is on a season-long loan from French Ligue 2 club Amiens, is unfazed by the substitute role he has been limited to in Steven Gerrard's team.
The South Africa star is yet to start a league match in Scotland, but he has played 109 minutes of league football in eight appearances.
“One thing for me is that people are rightly talking about how important our bench is this season," he continued. “We are strong, we have a lot of quality, not just on the park but on the bench and in the squad.
“We have quality but we also have a strong mentality. I can’t speak about what happened before, but I know that anyone can come on and do a job for the team.
“We have players who can contribute. We know we need to play for the badge, we know we need to represent the club and the supporters.
“People are pushing for places and if you are not performing on the pitch then the gaffer knows he has options that he can bring on.
“At the end of the day we know we didn’t perform to our best against Celtic but we got the three points and that’s all that matters. We now move onto the next game.”
Zungu alongside Nigeria duo Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo will be hoping to help Rangers extend their unbeaten streak when they travel to Aberdeen for their next league match on Sunday.