My boys are on an upward curve, insists Gerrard

RANGERS manager Steven Gerrard believes his side are still moving in the right direction despite an infuriating draw with Spartak Moscow.

Despite having the lion’s share of possession, territory and chances, Gerrard’s side couldn’t find the breakthrough, leaving the manager disappointed.

However, the Liverpool legend admitted he was pleased by what he saw from his side and thinks they’re on the right track.

“We are making huge strides from where we were,” Gerrard said. “We came close but it wasn’t to be. It could be a valuable point at the end of the day.

“It shows just how far we’ve come when we are disappointed to take a point off a Champions League team.

“I’d have signed up for five points at this stage but we won’t relax. We are halfway through with three tough games to go.”

Gerrard also refused to see the result as a poor one, instead focusing on the strong defence from both teams.

“It was always going to be a 1-0 game because both sides defend very well,” he admitted. “It will be seen as two points dropped, but not in my mind.”

Meanwhile, captain James Tavernier thinks Rangers can be confident heading to Russia for the return game.

“There’s chances there,” said Tavernier. “I thought the game plan tonight, we let them have the ball but they didn’t really affect us.

“Maybe in the set-pieces is the only way we could have got caught out but we defended them really well, so there’s positives to take over to Russia, and I believe we can go over there and get the three points.”