Gerrard: I’ll stamp out our mental weakness

Steven Gerrard claims Rangers ran up their worst home record in more than a century last season because they were mentally weak.

And he insists it won’t happen again on his watch.

Bossed through a disastrous campaign by Pedro Caixinha (below) and Graeme Murty, the Light Blues lost seven league games at Ibrox in a season for the first time since 1915, winning only 10 of their 19 at home and dropping 25 points.

Now Gerrard wants a return to the days of the Govan stronghold being a feared fortress as they start their Premiership home run against St Mirren this afternoon.

He said: “It’s not good enough for a team like Rangers. You can’t be dropping that amount of points at home.

“If the team isn’t right and the mentality’s not right or your squad or your team’s not strong enough, these things can happen.

“But I think a lot of the games where Rangers dropped points last term, it was down to mentality and approach to these types of games.

“We have made it clear to the players that it’s not acceptable because we’re not good enough where we can become complacent.

“We’re building something here and we need to have the same attitude and intensity.

“If any players in my team think they can waltz into this game and just turn up, it won’t happen.”

St Mirren haven’t won at Ibrox since a Kevin McGowne winner in their relegation season 26 years ago. It’s a record Gerrard wants to keep intact.

He added: “It’s important that we try to make Ibrox a difficult place to come for visiting teams, turn it into a fortress like it has been in the past.

“So the idea for us is to keep growing as a team and build the confidence.”