Gerrard is delighted with Euro progress
STEVEN GERRARD last night hailed the character of his Rangers side after they twice recovered from being a goal down against Standard Liege to reach the Europa League last 32 with a game to spare. A Connor Goldson header and a James Tavernier penalty cancelled out strikes from Maxime Lestienne and Duje Cop, despite the Ibrox outfit struggling during the opening period. Gerrard was delighted by the response to his half-time demands and Rangers gained reward for a much-improved display through Scott Arfield’s 62nd-minute winner. The Ibrox boss expressed pride in the resilience shown, saying: ‘I’ve been delighted with the attitude of the players all season. ‘We had to work extremely hard for it. Standard are a good team full of dangerous players and they caused us a lot of problems in the first half. We needed to tweak things
at half-time and be less passive and more aggressive. ‘We managed to turn it around over the course of the 90 minutes. We showed amazing character, amazing bravery and I’ve got nothing but plaudits for my players. ‘It’s a huge achievement if you think of the quality teams in the group with Benfica, Lech Poznan and Standard Liege. All really tough opponents. ‘We’ve had to fight to the end of every single game to get what we need to qualify, so to do that with a game to go is really impressive. ‘The players deserve a lot of praise for that.’
Next week’s trip to meet Lech Poznan is significant only in determining whether Rangers or Benfica will finish top of Group D. An additional financial bonus is on offer for that feat, potentially bolstering the monetary rewards from a second successive year in the knock-out stage for a club that recorded a £15.9 million loss for the 12 months up to June 30. ‘Everyone knows it is big for financial reasons,’ said Gerrard on the qualification. ‘I’m sure the board are pleased. More importantly it’s for the fans. They want to follow their team near and far, but unfortunately the circumstances don’t allow that right now. ‘But we need to keep making them proud while they watch from home and the important thing is they stay safe. And my players want to compete against the best and be challenged by the best. So the longer we stay in Europe the better. ‘This also gives us the chance to make a few changes if we want to which will hopefully help us be fresh domestically. ‘Would I like us to finish top? Of course. At Rangers you always want to aim to be top. ‘You’ve always got to aim to be first but I’ve got to look at the big picture and realise what’s more important and what the key games are and make decision from there.’