BLUES HAVE WILL TO WIN Gerrard: I told Gers to believe

Villarreal

2 2 STEVEN GERRARD said he had to urge his players to believe they belonged on the same stage as Villarreal as they hit back to claim an impressive draw in Spain.

Carlos Bacca and Gerard Moreno twice put the La Liga side ahead.

But the Light Blues refused to buckle, with Scott Arfield netting ahead of Kyle Lafferty’s first goal against a European side.

Gerrard said: “I’m very proud of my team, especially in the second half, which I felt was a very strong performance.

“We got off to the worst possible start and we didn’t really believe we could cause the opposition problems. But, from halftime, we went and did it and we could have scored a few more goals.”

Rangers were stunned when the home side went ahead after just 44 seconds, with Bacca’s shot from outside the box.

But Gers hit back after 67 minutes when Arfield swept the ball home.

Villarreal clicked up a gear, however, as substitute Moreno regained the lead just two minutes later.

But Lafferty equalised with 15 minutes left – to the delight of the 2,200 travelling Gers supporters.

Gerrard added: “The message at half-time was to show more belief and have more courage in our play by making passes.

“I was concerned at half-time that we were going to have regrets.

When we won the ball back we never kept it well enough.

“We never had enough belief when we were getting into really good areas.

“We didn’t really believe we could cause the opposition problems. But after half-time it was much better.

“It was a crazy end to the game - we could have won it through Scott Arfield and at the same time we could have lost it.

“But that would have been really harsh on us we deserved a point tonight.”

Rangers