Gerrard looking for the ‘real’ Rangers

Ibrox boss says he doesn’t want a repeat of last month’s Tynecastle horror show

Steven Gerrard wants the “real” Rangers to show up for the William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hearts at Tynecastle today.

The Light Blues boss was heavily critical of his side after they lost 2-1 away to the Jambos in the Ladbrokes Premiership near the end of January.

The surprise defeat dented their title hopes and afterwards Gerrard said: “Celtic were waiting for us to blink. Today we’ve blinked. Big time.”

Speaking at a press conference arranged before Rangers were drawn against Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of the Europa League with the first game at Ibrox, Gerrard said: “The only thing we have to prove is that the real Rangers are there for the challenge.

“I was pretty strong in my assessment of the last 90 minutes there, I didn’t recognise the performance.

“Hearts have beaten us once since we have been there. They are a good team, we respect them but more often than not we have gone there and shown the real Rangers and got the outcome we have wanted.

“So hopefully the real Rangers will turn up tomorrow and if we do I am confident we will be OK.

“We are looking for the level of consistency we had from the beginning of the season to the winter break.

“I think we have shown flashes, individual performances, that we can get back to that.

“But the idea from now until the end of the season is to find that consistency and if we do I believe we can have an exciting end to the season.

“If we don’t and we continue to change our standards from game to game we will find some issues and complications like we have done.”

Gerrard, who revealed there is an outside chance that veteran striker Jermain Defoe could return from a calf injury, believes his side should be buoyed by the home and away wins over Braga in the Europa League.

Rangers’ 1-0 victory in Portugal on Thursday night ensured a 4-2 aggregate win and a morale-boosting entry into the last 16.

The former Liverpool and England captain said: “It should do because we have come through two big challenges as a group.

“Braga in both legs were a very dangerous team, top quality individual players and they have a real interesting way of playing. They have a lot of domestic success by doing that, winning a cup final and moving from mid-table to third and beating all the top opposition in their league home and away.

“So to come through both ties the way we have, the players should take confidence and belief.

“But you know and I know that Hearts will pose a different type of challenge in a different environment and we need to make sure that we are recovered physically and mentally for that test.”

Meanwhile Hearts centre-back John Souttar admits Daniel Stendel’s tactics have forced the need to adapt to a different style of defending – but he accepts they have no more time to get used to the ideas.

Hearts have conceded 13 goals in four league games since victory over Rangers gave Stendel his only three points in 11 matches.

Souttar said: “It’s a different style of football compared to what we have played before. It is different but we have got to focus on keeping clean sheets now, we have got to stop conceding so many chances. That’s as the whole unit as well as the back four.

“It’s different but it has got its benefits as well. Everyone is buying into what he wants to do, that attacking, and you could see against Rangers it came off.

“It’s going to take time . . . we have had a bit of time now to get things right but now we have to start getting the rewards.

“The training has been good, everyone has looked good. Every day we are learning a bit more about how the gaffer wants us to play and what style of football he wants us to play but it’s results we need and we need them quickly.

“It’s got to get transitioned from training to games quickly.”

Hearts’ Ladbrokes Premiership predicament worsened on Tuesday when third-bottom St Mirren opened up a sixpoint gap on Stendel’s basement side.

Souttar admits they are in dire need of the kind of positivity that a quarter-final victory over Rangers would bring.

“It would be huge,” the 23-year-old said. “It’s been a difficult season for everyone at the club so for us to get to a semi-final would bring back a feelgood factor to the whole place. I think that’s needed just now. Our attention is on the league, we have to stay up.”