GERS STILL

Swiss hitman Cedric sprung from bench to preserve

STEVEN GERRARD admitted Cedric Itten has fired himself into contention for a place in his starting team after the super sub salvaged a point to preserve Rangers’ unbeaten league run.

The Swiss striker came off the bench at Fir Park to head home a Light Blues leveller with the runaway Scottish Premiership leaders trailing to Devante Cole’s close range opener.

Gerrard was furious with the first half showing from his players and Itten helped change things when he was introduced just 10 minutes after the restart with Ianis Hagi hooked.

Itten, who has now scored four goals in three games against the Steelmen, has only started two league games since his £2.5million summer switch from St Gallen but Gerrard admitted he might have to give him his chance.

He said of the 24-year-old: “I’m sure Cedric in his quieter times has probably been a bit frustrated with me in terms of opportunities and game time and if he keeps providing like that I can’t ignore him for too long.

“We have four quality centre-forwards so it’s impossible to keep them all happy but I’m really pleased with his cameo performance. He looked strong, lively and he was a threat. He’s really honest and he’s never passive.

“In the first half too many of our players were passive so that’s what I was disappointed about. When we managed to string some passes together and get some territory, our quality wasn’t there.

“Our normally reliable players, the front three and coming in from the sides, the quality wasn’t good enough. We never tested the goalkeeper enough in the first half.

“But then things weren’t changing as quickly as I would have liked them to, so the game was crying out for a Cedric-type player. He came on and did really well.

“We had more quality from the sides. We had a front three that looked dangerous. In the first half everything was too safe in front of Motherwell. They were comfortable and Liam Kelly did not have much to do. That’s on us, that’s on me. That’s the reason I asked for more at half-time.

“We came to win the game, so from that point of view we have to be slightly disappointed and frustrated. But the way the game panned out, to play much better in the second half and take a point, it’s arguably a fair result all in all.

“If you look at possession, chances created and our second half performance, we maybe should have shaded it.”

Gers missed the chance to stretch their lead over rivals Celtic, who were held at Livingston on Saturday, to 23 points but still have a huge advantage over the nine-in-arow champions.

There are now just 14 games left and 10 wins will be enough to seal the title with a vastly superior goal difference over the Hoops.

And Gerrard admitted he can’t shut out talk of them being so close to the club’s first title in a decade.

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 and stay focused on each challenge. That’s where we are trying to keep the boys in terms of their thinking and the preparation.

“After a fantastic win no one’s 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 but at the same time we haven’t lost anything either. You’ve seen two sides of us, a first half showing that wasn’t us and wasn’t good enough but the second half was an awful lot better.”

Scott Arfield’s drive from the middle of the park was a big miss for Gers but Gerrard is also without key men Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe.

He said: “You’re always going to miss that calibre of player but I won’t sit and say that’s the reason we only got a point.

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

“That would be an easy way out for me to start using not having Jack, Arfield or Roofe as an excuse.”