STEVIE: MY MEN WILL BE FRESH FOR RUSSIA
STEVEN GERRARD insists there will be no Fir Park hangover for Rangers when they bid for a Europa League berth in Russia.
The Gers dropped two late Premiership points for the second time this term as Motherwell snatched a draw at the end of yesterday’s six-goal thriller.
Rangers had to twice come from behind as Kyle Lafferty opened his account for Gerrard’s side and were on course for a battling victory when Ovie Ejaria put them 3-2 ahead.
But Peter Hartley earned the Steelmen a share of the spoils in injury time after earlier efforts from Danny Johnson and Carl McHugh.
Gerrard was frustrated with the manner of Rangers’ defending in Lanarkshire but is confident there will be no ill-effects ahead of the European showdown with Ufa this week.
He said: “I’m bitterly disappointed with the timing of the equaliser. It obviously hurts that little bit more when it comes that late.
“We were a set-piece away from taking maximum points against
tough opposition. I thought we defended very well to their style in open play for the majority of the game.
“But we haven’t defended anywhere near well enough on set plays. We’ve been done twice.
“The first goal was an unlucky one obviously. I’ve been there myself so I feel for Connor on that one.
“We got off to a bad start in the game but then showed really good character and some really good football to get back in the game.
“So I was pleased with that aspect and how we defended in general play but we’ve got work to do defending set-plays. That’s for sure.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves today. We have got ourselves to blame and shot ourselves in the foot in terms of defending set-plays.
“You can’t get teams gifts like that, otherwise it becomes very difficult.
“So we have to bounce back we’ve got two really big games coming up and it’s my job to make sure that we don’t have a hangover from dropping two points today.”
Gerrard switched to a 3-5-2 formation for the trip to Fir Park and saw his side come from behind to lead at the end of a remarkable first half.
But it was to prove another afternoon of what might have been for the Gers as Hartley headed home a Gael Bigirimana corner with just seconds to spare.
Gerrard said: “You can’t blame shape for conceding two set-piece goals. If you take them out of our performance we win the game 3-1 – and if that doesn’t happen to Connor we probably win 3-0.
“I thought the shape worked in general but obviously people might point to the shape and my decisions because we haven’t defended set-pieces well enough.
“I was very pleased [with the response] but I didn’t panic because of the timing of the first goal. We had plenty of time.
“It’s out first bump in the road together and it was an education for the players in terms of what we faced. We have to learn and move on.”
The performance of Lafferty was one of the main positives for Gerrard to take as the Northern Irishman led the line superbly on his first start.
And Gerrard, who ruled out loan moves for Nathan Dyer and Ryan Gauld, was pleased to see his most recent summer signing turn on the style.
Gerrard said: “That’s exactly why we brought him here. We knew he was capable of scoring important goals and a volume of goals.
“We wanted to get him in a bit earlier but I’m really pleased we got there in the end.”