Gerrard: I love ramming gobby rivals’ words down their throats

I could for the team to make sure the opposition did not take any points.

“I used to like my manager giving me every tiny little bit of help, even if it was only one per cent.

“The level of the game now, as a manager you have to find every marginal gain, on and off the pitch.”

Off the pitch, Gerrard admitted his team were inspired by the Ibrox crowd against the Dutch as they poured out their emotions in memory of Fernando Ricksen.

Aided by the multi-ball system, it allowed Rangers to play with a tempo and energy that deserved more than a slender single-goal lead at half-time from Sheyi Ojo’s thunderous strike.

Gerrard was thrilled by the performance of his players in that opening period but equally impressed by their second-half display when they showed game intelligence to drop off from the high press when required to stifle the threat of Japp Stam’s team though the midfield.

It highlighted a maturity Gerrard reckons will stand them in good stead for their next Europa League clash, at Young Boys Berne on Thursday week.

He added: “There are probably half a dozen stadia around the world that can create the amount of noise, energy and passion as Ibrox.

“You could feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing up.

“I experienced it a lot as a player and it is a special feeling as a coach when the crowd is bouncing and the team is playing well.

“I always felt the crowd would come and get right behind the team from start to finish on the back of the sad events of 24 hours earlier.

“There was a realisation we all wanted to come together and the fans were terrific. It’s very rare the staff

come in after a warm-up and say the crowd is bubbling and ready and that was certainly the feeling when I walked out.

“The atmosphere was very fitting for Fernando and the performance played its part as well. The players deserve credit. They are really showing a determination to do well in Europe. We’ve shown we can compete at this level.

“We were great in the first half, on the front foot, full of energy, attack after attack. We were fantastic in a different way in the second half.

“Sometimes you have to give the ball up in certain situations and the idea was to block the middle of the pitch and not allow them to play through us. If they wanted to go outside, fine, because we had confidence in our central defenders in dealing with any crosses that might have come into the box.

“The players carried out the game plan really well. Sometimes you can win a football match without having all the possession and looking great on the eye.”

It’s back to auld claes and porridge at McDiarmid Park tomorrow lunchtime and Gerrard’s promised to play the squad game again to account for the physical toll of his team’s efforts against Feyenoord.

Leagues are won or lost on Sundays at venues such as St Johnstone, it was pointed out.

And Gerrard added: “100 per cent. These are the ones to show your mental strength and that you want to be involved in a title race.

“You want to earn the right to be involved. You’ve got to go to places like that and take maximum points, with all due respect.

“If we want to be there come the split and be involved and as close as we can, we have to win at places like St Johnstone. That’s the reality of it.”