Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
RRYANAHIGNH SMILES BETTER
STEVEN GERRARD feels Rangers are now in a far happier place as he issued a Europa League rallying call at Ross County.
The Ibrox club ended a miserable run of three domestic games without victory with a narrow win over the Staggies in Dingwall yesterday.
Under-fire attacker Ryan Kent scored a late winner as Rangers prepare for the arrival of Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday night.
Gerrard revealed he could be without skipper James Tavernier, midfielder Ryan Jack and striker Jermain Defoe for the visit of the Germans in the round of 32.
But he insists his players are feeling much better about themselves after a half-time talk in at the Global Energy Stadium sparked a return to winning ways in domestic competition.
Gerrard said: “I have been through these phases as a player where it’s just not going for you and there is a lot of noise and criticism.
“You need a moment or a game where you start building it back again – and today was a start. The idea is to build on that.
“It’s fantastic we have such a huge game to look forward to now.
“We can smile going down the road and do all our preparation for what will be a really tough match against Bayer. However, we deserve this opportunity and I want the players to go and play with courage and belief, let themselves go and see where that takes us.
“I’m sure they will be feeling better about themselves. We’ve been really open as a group, probably too open at times, and it has been tough.
“We needed this victory. The only medicine for a bad period of games or a poor run of form is winning and keeping clean sheets, so this is a start.
“It’s a big win and three points, something for us to build on. I don’t think we were fantastic from start to finish. We can certainly find higher levels and have looked better during the season.
“But we came up here to do a job after a difficult week. It was about getting the three points in any way, shape or form and credit to the players for delivering that.
“Ross County had one chance where Allan Mcgregor made a save, but we dominated in terms of possession and getting into their final third.
“I would like us a little bit more inventive, people taking chances and shooting more often as that’s when we are at our fluent best. But in the circumstances, where we have been this last week, I’m pleased.
“There were a lot of positives.”