Gers boss tempers fan expectation after narrow win

STEVEN Gerrard says the Ibrox faithful can groan if they want but wa r ned t hey shou ld not expect his Rangers team to blow away every opponent.

St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin vowed earlier this week that he would park “two buses” across Vaclav Hladky’s goal.

And the Buddies boss proved true to his word as he set his team up in an ultra-defensive shape in a bid to put the brakes on Rangers’ title charge.

That did not go down well with the home supporters, who made their feelings clear as Gers toiled to find a breakthrough.

Thankfully for Gerrard, Jermain Defoe came up with a winner 11 minutes before half-time to secure a 1-0 victory which keeps the Light Blues two points behind Celtic with a game in hand.

Gerrard said: “I’m delighted with it, in terms of the outcome and result. It gets us closer to where we want to be, six wins on the spin.

“So I’m positive, I’m happy. I understand some of the frustration around the fans and the players, not scoring three or four.

“Over the course of the season it’s not going to be perfect in every game. We’re still trying to find top gear.

“But it’s a win, a clean sheet, we were defensively very sound. We could have killed the game off but it wasn’t to be.

“You see Rangers v St Mirren and expect three, four, five – but you’ve got to respect them.”

Defeat came at an added cost for Saints boss Jim Goodwin after he saw stand-in skipper Kyle Magennis stretchered off after just seven minutes with a serious knee injury.

Stewards and police moved in after fans clashed with Leigh Griffiths.