Rangers delivered a dominant derby dismantling of Celtic on Sunday, making it five consecutive wins across all competitions for the Ibrox club.
Only 17 days separate the Conference League defeat against Jablonec and Rangers’ commanding Old Firm victory, a remarkable turnaround by any measure.
The meek, ideas-starved team that stumbled out of Europe against the Czechs has been transformed into a physically imposing, hard-running collective in little more than a fortnight.
A Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Aberdeen looms in six weeks, and speculation is already growing about how much further this Rangers side can develop before that showdown arrives.
McInnes was in no mood to revisit the Jablonec capitulation after the Celtic victory, firing back sharply when the subject was raised by Record Sport.
“Seriously, why are you pissing on my chips?” he growled after Record Sport dared mention the Jablonec word.
The Rangers manager did acknowledge the European setback directly, placing the burden of responsibility squarely on his own shoulders with candid self-reflection.
“When we look back, it’s the one defeat we have had in the last eight games and it was a sore one,” he said, adding, “The performance that night was in complete contrast to today.”
“We delivered such a lacklustre performance, a performance that I wouldn’t want to put my name to and I had to deal with that,” McInnes continued, stating the majority of responsibility lies with him.
Dan Neil earned the lion’s share of individual plaudits after scoring two brilliant finishes to shoot down the opposition in a standout personal display.
McInnes was reluctant to single out individuals given how well Rangers performed as a collective unit throughout the full ninety minutes.
James Penrice delivered an impressive defensive shift, shutting down the threat of Benjamin Nygren and marking the Dane effectively out of the game.
Olwethu Makhanya, one of six derby debutants in McInnes’ starting line-up, showed remarkable composure and continued to look like a seasoned operator throughout the contest.
Ryan Naderi impressed up front, running tirelessly while quickly building an understanding with Kevin Kelsy, who got himself on the scoresheet with Rangers’ second goal.
McInnes said of his goalscorer: “Obviously Dan’s going to get highlighted for his goals. His two goals were brilliant, different types of finishes.”
“He gets the light shining on a wee bit today because of the goals,” the Rangers boss added, careful not to let individual praise overshadow the collective team effort on display.
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