RAMPANT GERS PUT THE PEDAL TO THE METAL
Rangers 8 Hamilton
STEVEN GERRARD hailed his “ruthless and relentless” Rangers as they smashed Hamilton for eight - then warned his stars he won’t accept any slip from the standard they set at Ibrox yesterday.
Gers boss Gerrard was delighted with his team’s display and was particularly pleased that they didn’t let up after going in four goals up at half time.
Scott Arfield ( below) swept Gers ahead in the 16th minute before Kemar Roofe and Joe Aribo followed it up with two quickfire strikes as the hosts made it three goals in three minutes.
Aribo made it 4- 0 at the break with his second while Roofe got his second soon after the change of ends.
James Tavernier took his tally for the campaign to 12 with another double just after Brandon Barker had also netted as the Light Blues get a firm grip of their nine- point lead at the top of the table.
Gerrard said: “It was a strong performance. I’m really pleased.
“We showed a right ruthless side to us today - we were relentless from start to finish and we could have had a few more goals as well.
“I’m really pleased for the goalscorers and the lads who got the numbers in terms of assists.
“We knew we’d be getting into the final third a lot today and it was about, ‘ Can we find the outcomes and can we execute?’
“And we did. We found eight answers and I’m really pleased.
“Some opposition teams and individuals have had it too easy. They’ve come here and enjoyed themselves too much in the past. That can’t happen.”
Gerrard was also delighted with a seventh home clean sheet in a row in the league, equalling a club record. And he is demanding no let up.
He added: “We want to be a tough team to play against. This needs to be a fortress and we need to keep working towards that.
“We want to be a horrible team to play against out of possession, we want to be well organised. We want to protect our goal and our penalty box for our lives and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Asked about not being ruthless enough in the past, Gerrard responded: “We have done that at times and it has annoyed me because we are not in a position or at a stage yet where we can afford to take our foot off the gas.
“We are representing Rangers and every minute is important, so I don’t like to see players showing ego or coming off the gas.”