Gerrard hits out at defending

STEVEN GERRARD has warned his team they’ll need to radically improve their defending of set-plays if they are to stop shipping points. Despite debutant Kyle Lafferty scoring a brace at Fir Park before Ovie Ejaria struck, Rangers were denied victory in the 94th minute after Peter Hartley turned in a corner to earn a remarkable 3-3 draw. Gerrard’s satisfaction at seeing his side open up Motherwell on the front foot was tempered with displeasure at a failure to keep out elementary goals at the other end. ‘I’m bitterly disappointed with the timing of the

equaliser,’ said Gerrard. ‘It hurts that bit more when it comes so 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.’ Gerrard absolved defender Connor Goldson of blame despite the defender’s slip allowing Danny Johnson to give Motherwell a lead after just three minutes, but was not happy with the backline when Gael Bigirimana’s free-kick was headed in by Carl McHugh to restore Motherwell’s lead. ‘The first goal was an unlucky one,’ he added. ‘I’ve been there myself, so I feel for Connor. ‘We got off to a bad start in the game but then showed good character and some really good football to get back in the game. ‘So I was pleased with that aspect but we’ve got work to do defending set-plays.’ Fulsome in his praise for Lafferty after the Northern Irishman struck twice in 22 minutes, Gerrard added: ‘That’s why we brought him here. We knew he was capable of scoring big goals and a lot of goals in this league. ‘We wanted to get him in a bit earlier but I’m really pleased we got there in the end and I thought he was really good today.’ With the Europa League return leg against FC Ufa coming up on Thursday and a trip to Celtic Park set for next Sunday, Gerrard has told his players they can’t dwell on the late loss of two points. ‘We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,’ he said. ‘We have got ourselves to blame and shot ourselves in the foot in terms of defending set-plays. ‘We’ve got two really big games coming up. It’s my job to make sure we don’t have a hangover.’ Asked if he regretted throwing on Lee Wallace for his first appearance of the season just before Hartley equalised, Gerrard responded: ‘They had four or five big units and I have a defender behind me who is 6ft 3in and, with all due respect to Ovie, Lee Wallace is better at defending setpieces. If I’ve got it wrong, I’ll take the blame, no problem.’ Gerrard shot down reports linking him with a move for Sporting Lisbon’s Ryan Gauld. ‘Nothing,’ he straight-batted. ‘I’ve been asked about Nathan Dyer (of Swansea) and there’s nothing in that, either.’