MY SIDE WON’T EVER BE BULLIED

Gerrard vows his Rangers team are up for the fight

STEVEN GERRARD insists his revamped Rangers team will not be bullied by Motherwell or any other opponent this season.

The Ibrox manager has accepted an apology from counterpart Stephen Robinson after Fir Park captain Peter Hartley made crass comments mocking the broken nose suffered by Fabio Cardoso in last season’s Betfred Cup semi-final.

Then under Pedro Caixinha’s leadership, Rangers were cowed by Motherwell’s robust approach as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Hampden.

Gerrard, however, has made improving the power and stature of his squad a priority over the course of 12 transfer additions. And he has no fears about being soft touches when his unbeaten side prepare to head to Fir Park tomorrow.

‘I think we can capitalise on teams that want to bully us because, if their focus is on the bullying tactics, we can match that no problem at all,’ said Gerrard.

‘We invite that. Bring that on. When teams try to do that to us, it takes a lot of the focus off the football. And then we can capitalise on where they haven’t looked or haven’t worried about our strengths as a football team.

‘Rangers won’t be bullied. No. It won’t happen.’

Asked about addressing past weaknesses following his appointment, Gerrard added: ‘Straight away. Right down the spine.

‘Get people in who want to fight and compete. It’s non-negotiable now at this football club. You have to compete. You have to earn the right.

‘We would have to not turn up to be bullied. From what I’ve seen so far, I’d be very surprised if that happened to us now.’

Speaking on Thursday morning, Hartley claimed it was ‘fun’ to watch Cardoso ‘weep’ after the

centre-back — released from Ibrox in the summer — was left bloodied by a flailing arm from Motherwell striker Ryan Bowman. He later issued an apology but could face an SFA sanction after the compliance officer took an interest in words which have added to the attention focused on the weekend fixture. ‘I think Motherwell realised that,’ said Gerrard, who expects tomorrow’s game to be too soon for Lassana Coulibaly. ‘Steve (Robinson) has been on the phone to me. He left me a message last night and I spoke to him this morning. ‘We’ve accepted his apology. We’ve accepted Motherwell’s apology. We are a forgiving club. I’m a forgiving man. I don’t want it to rumble on and add to unnecessary heat that’s going to come with Sunday’s game. ‘It’s important we focus on the football and we go there and try to do a job. The kid has been naive. He regrets it. It was a surprise to me because he is a leader. Normally, leaders have to have responsibility and know what to say and when to say it. He’s got that one wrong but we forgive him.’ Gerrard, meanwhile, remains in the hunt for another central defender in the final week of the transfer window. A loan move for Nottingham Forest’s Joe Worrall has been explored, while Rangers have also considered Northern Ireland veteran Gareth McAuley. Asked yesterday about Worrall, an England Under-21 cap, Gerrard said: ‘I’ve been as open as I can with the media in terms of the areas we’re trying to strengthen. I won’t be mentioning any names. ‘Worrall is a fantastic player — I’ve been following him for many years with England. He’s a really good player but I don’t think I have to add to that anymore.’