‘Morelos has to channel aggression to reach top’

RANGERS boss Steven G er ra rd has wa r ned Alfredo Morelos (right) he will have to clean up his act if he wants to make it to the top.

The Colombian went from saint to sinner as he fired in two clinical finishes at Pittodrie – then saw red against Aberdeen for the third time this season.

Morelos’ double – which takes his season tally to 23 – helped seal a thrilling 4-2 win for Gers as they remain six points behind Ladbrokes Premiership leaders Celtic.

However, former Liverpool skipper Gerrard says the 22-year-old will not be able to fulfil his dreams of playing in the English Premier League if he carries on getting himself caught up in the sort of needless clash that saw the striker and Reds defender Scott McKenna head for an early bath just after half-time.

The pair had been embroiled in a running battle during the first half before both appeared to kick out at one another after a tussle on the deck.

“I think for Alfredo to go to the next level or to improve he will have to channel his aggression,” said the Rangers boss, who also saw James Tavernier net a penalty before Jermain Defoe’s stoppage-time clincher ensured Sam Cosgrove’s double counted for nothing.

“I’ll be honest, I haven’t had the chance to analyse the incident, so I can’t tell you if Scott deserved a red or whether Alfredo did but they’ve had a fantastic battle up until that point. Scott was physical with Alfredo, Alfredo was physical with them.

“Two top players but unfortunately they have both ended up with red cards.

“Whether they deserved it, I’ll have to analyse it. If Alfredo is in the wrong then he’ll deserve the red card.

“He’ll then be missing for two games and that’s how he’ll get punished because he hates missing games.

Rangers have now opened up a five-point l ead on Derek McInnes’ Dons but Gerrard is not convinced the title race is now a two-horse race with the Hoops.

“We’ve won, we’re delighted we’ve won,” he said. “But Aberdeen are not going away, Kilmarnock are not going away. Hearts are getting stronger.

“We can’t rest on our laurels. We need to find consistency, keep growing and let’s see what happens.”

McKenna gifted Gers their third goal when he handled in the box and his manager was frustrated the defender allowed himself to get sucked in by Morelos for his sending off.

“My first thoughts with McKenna is that both red cards are r i g h t , ” s a i d Mc I n n e s . “McKenna is maybe guilty with a bit of naivety with Morelos, as he’s got previous with his antics.

“It’s a sore one for us, going five points behind Rangers. There’s still lots of football to be played. We’ll use last night as extra motivation.”