CEDRIC TAKES CENTRE STAGE

Swiss star pushing for start after punishing Well again

FOR Motherwell’s players, the sight of Rangers striker Cedric Itten warming up on the sidelines must have brought the kind of sense of impending doom normally associated with watching the opening scene in Casualty.

With four goals in his three matches against the Fir Park side this season, the Swiss striker knows a thing or two about inflicting injury on the Steelmen.

Sure enough, the 24-year-old kept up that purple patch in this particular fixture, climbing off the bench to level Devante Cole’s opener with a second-half header that the home side claimed was fractionally offside.

A draw here meant Steven Gerrard’s side were unable to match the club’s post-war record of 16 straight wins recorded by Jock Wallace’s side in 1972-73.

But Rangers remain 21 points clear at the summit with 14 matches left in the Premiership.

And after Itten had added muchneeded bite to the Rangers attack, Gerrard admits the forward is staking a strong claim for inclusion in his starting line-up next Saturday at home to Ross County.

‘The game was crying out for a Cedric Itten-type player and he came on and did really well,’ said Gerrard.

‘We have four quality strikers at the club, so it’s impossible to keep them all happy.

‘I’m sure Cedric in his quieter times has probably been a bit frustrated with me in terms of opportunities and game time.

‘But if he keeps providing like that, I can’t ignore him for too long. I’m really pleased with his cameo performance today.

‘He looked strong, lively and he was a threat. He is a really honest player and he is never passive.

‘In the first half today, too many of our players were passive and I was disappointed by that.’

Ross County’s stunning 4-1 home win over Aberdeen 24 hours earlier had rendered this fixture a top v bottom clash. And it was 12th-placed Motherwell who took the lead after reaping the reward for bravely taking the game to Rangers in the opening stages.

Good play from Tony Watt and Liam Polworth ended with the former Celtic striker sending an enticing low ball across the six-yard line from the left wing.

Cole, who had played a role earlier in the move, had kept moving to ensure he was in the perfect position to force the ball into the net. Had he not been, Allan Campbell was also in a prime position to apply the finishing touch to a lovely piece of play.

It was just the third time in the Premiership this season that Gerrard’s side had fallen behind but the setback did not draw a convincing reaction from the visitors.

The closest they got to a leveller came when a terrific cross from Borna Barisic was headed just wide by Alfredo Morelos.

Poor in the opening 45, Rangers were a team transformed after the break. With the Fir Park side pinned in their own half, Connor Goldson saw a header cleared off the line by goalscorer Cole.

Ryan Kent then picked out James Tavernier at the back post but the captain’s header across goal found no takers.

Then Goldson’s fierce shot from the edge of the box stung the palms of on-loan Motherwell keeper Liam Kelly before the danger was cleared.

The leveller Rangers deserved arrived 18 minutes from time. Barisic looked up and picked out Itten at the far post and the former St Gallen frontman sent a downward header past Kelly for 1-1.

In stoppage time, substitute Jermain Defoe nearly won it for Rangers but his shot on the turn after a cross from Tavernier was gathered strongly by Kelly.

In addition to not seeking to use the poor pitch at Fir Park as an excuse, Gerrard refused to blame his side’s listless first half on the absence of injured trio Kemar Roofe, Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack.

‘You’re always going to miss that calibre of players but I won’t sit and say that’s the reason we only got a point today,’ he said.

‘We had more than enough out on the pitch over the course of 90 minutes to win the game.

‘So I think that would be an easy way out for me to start using not having Jack, Arfield or Roofe as an excuse for not winning.

‘We had enough in that dressing room. That dressing room has just won an Old Firm derby and won at Aberdeen away.

‘The outcome of the game is on us and, moving forward, we will take the positives from the second half and try to learn from coming to the game late — because that’s the reason we haven’t got the result we wanted.’

With Rangers enjoying a huge lead at the top of the table, Gerrard admits a key task he has is in keeping his players’ feet on the ground while the rest of the country are declaring the 2020-21 Premiership title race done-anddusted by mid January.

He said: ‘It’s going to be a challenge because the reality is there are big prizes to play for.

‘It’s impossible not to realise where we are as a group and what’s at stake.

‘But it’s important that we stay focused and don’t get ahead of ourselves.

‘That’s where we are trying to keep the boys in terms of their thinking and the preparation. ‘After a fantastic win, no-one is getting too high and, if we have a bump or don’t get the result we want, it’s important to stay calm. ‘We haven’t managed to stretch our lead today but, at the same time, we haven’t lost anything either. ‘You’ve seen two sides of us today — a first-half showing that wasn’t us and wasn’t good enough but the second half was a lot better. ‘I think as a group we all know where we are at and where we are trying to get to.’