COVID 5 HAVE LET ME DOWN

BY MICHAEL GANNON

STEVEN GERRARD insists he’s been let down by the Ibrox Covid Five – but the Rangers boss won’t let the controversy derail his side ahead of tonight’s Euro crunch clash in Belgium.

The Gers boss has warned coronavirus rule breakers Bongani Zungu, Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey (above), Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear they will face showdown talks about their futures when they get out of quarantine after they were caught by police at a social gathering.

Gerrard has fined the group and the club are in dialogue with the authorities while bracing themselves for any action from the SFA joint response group.

The manager said: “They’ve been removed from the club and the squad for now on a shortterm basis while they isolate and I’ll be sitting down with those boys face to face once we’re allowed to do so.”

But Gerrard’s focus is purely on Antwerp this evening where he is looking to drive Rangers in to the Europa League last 16 for the second year on the spin.

He said: “It won’t affect us as a group, I’ve been absolutely delighted with the group in terms of their application, I feel personally let down by recent events but I’m trying to move forward and focus on the important thing which is preparing for a huge game against Antwerp.

“I’m really excited. I’m looking forward to the game. So are the players. They have trained extremely well going into this game.”

ROBERT SNODGRASS says West Brom still believe they can pull off a relegation miracle.

Sam Allardyce’s men are 12 points from safety and go to Burnley on Saturday. But midfielder Snodgrass (above) has seen enough since joining in January to give him hope.

“We have to believe,” he said. “We were in the lead against both Fulham and Sheffield United, so could have picked up five or six more points.

“But we can’t think about that now, nor can we stop believing in this group of players.

“We’ve been in every game I’ve played in apart from Manchester City, which was a tough one to take.

“But we’ve been capable of winning every other game I’ve been involved in.

“The manager is getting the lads buying into what he does – which is keeping teams in the Premier League and winning football matches.”