Gerrard: Let’s bounce over to Belgium

RANGERS boss Steven Gerrard last night urged his players to ‘bounce over to Belgium’ as they prepare to resume their Europa League campaign against Royal Antwerp.

Speaking after his team defeated Kilmarnock 1-0 to extend their Premiership lead over Celtic to 21 points, Gerrard admitted he was happy to switch focus back to Europe after the competition’s two-month hiatus.

And with strikers Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe available for Thursday’s first leg after serving domestic suspensions, he has urged the team to view the knock-out stage as an opportunity to add European progression to a likely title triumph.

He said: ‘This is a really exciting time for us. We have the chance to go into the last 16 of Europe, which is where the players want to test themselves.

‘It will be a tough tie over two legs but we are ready. We’ll welcome Kemar and Alfredo back into the group, which is a lot more healthy than it was a few weeks back. We’ve got options to pick from. It will be a nice break away from the league and we will give everything we have got to try to set it up for the second leg.

‘The players should be really excited and embrace what’s in front of them, go and be the best version of themselves. If they do, they have a wonderful opportunity to turn this season into a success.

‘I want the boys to be excited. I want them to bounce over to Belgium and be

really confident they can give their best.’

While Rangers will welcome back their first-choice striking options for Thursday, Antwerp boss Franky Vercauteren will be without the suspended Didier Lamkel Ze, while star man Dieumerci Mbokani has missed the last seven matches through injury.

Last term, Rangers made it to the competition’s last 16, where they lost to Bayer Leverkusen and Gerrard senses an opportunity to go at least as far this year.

He added: ‘We’ll do our best. We are going to try and attack every game in front of us. We’ve got the numbers in the squad and the quality to do it.

‘My focus hasn’t been too much on Antwerp up until now. I’ve watched a few games but I’m going to watch an awful lot more between now and Thursday.

‘I know they’ve got a striker suspended and one about to come back from injury. I know there has been a managerial change since the draw was made.

‘They are flying high in the league. They are second in a strong league for a reason. My respect is there for them but we really want to embrace these two games and give it everything we’ve got to get into the last 16.’

A stunning 25-yard strike from Ryan Jack earned Rangers their latest Premiership win but Gerrard admitted that without the banned Morelos and Roofe, his team struggled to break down Kilmarnock.

And he conceded their task was made harder by the Ayrshire club’s decision to appoint Tommy Wright as manager at the start of the week.

‘This game changed three or four days ago,’ said Gerrard. ‘We didn’t play against a Kilmarnock side low on confidence, who were getting beat more convincingly.

‘We were playing against a fresh Kilmarnock. The players all have a clean slate and a manager to impress.

‘You could see they had worked on set-pieces and organisation. The game worked out as we thought against a really stubborn Kilmarnock team with Tommy Wright’s stamp on it.

‘If I was being ultra-critical — and I shouldn’t be, because I love 1-0 wins — we never made it easier for ourselves by being a bit more ruthless.’

Gerrard also hailed Jack’s goal but insisted it still ranks behind Roofe’s stunning Europa League strike from inside his own half against Standard Liege earlier in the campaign.

‘Any midfielder would be happy with a goal like that,’ he continued. ‘I think the touch complemented the strike, and I think it’s going to go right into our top three goals of the season, although he might just lose out to Kemar’s wonder strike in

Europe.

‘That’s what I want Jacko to keep trying to add to his game.’