GERRARD: WE DELIVERED

an own goal for the second as Rangers held firm amid Hoops pressure in the second period.

Gerrard refused to divulge what was behind a heated dust-up with the Celtic bench on the touchline after a week of argument, with Hoops caretaker boss John Kennedy claiming his side are better than their rivals on their day.

But the Gers gaffer insisted his men proved they are the undisputed champs after keeping the Double dream alive and inflicting Celtic with another Old Firm pain game this season.

The Light Blues were Old Firm punch bags when Gerrard arrived three years ago but now are unbeaten in five derby clashes going back to last term – with three wins and just one draw on their relentless march this term.

The Ibrox club rubbed their rivals’ noses in it at full-time as they tweeted: “A win against the best team in the league.”

Gerrard wouldn’t be drawn on the tension on the sidelines but he was adamant his side had delivered an emphatic message on the pitch.

He said: “There’s a lot of trash talk on the pitch. At times, there’s trash talk on the sides. Sometimes that’s Celtic’s fault, sometimes that’s our fault.

“Emotions are running high, there’s a lot at stake. It is what it is but it’s not the first time that’s happened, is it?

“The message today before the game was, ‘Can we get back to being at our best, or close to our best?’

“I think for large parts of the game we did.

“The word ‘calm’ sums up our performance. We withstood some pressure at times but never panicked or got out of shape. We have come a long way from the first derby we played, the dressing room has come a long way. It’s not really important in terms of runs in the Old Firm fixture, it’s about winning as many games as you can. There has certainly been a mentality shift in terms of us going into the games.

“We are going into them with belief and confidence. We know what we’ve got to do. There were times when Celtic’s good players opened us up and we had to soak it up.

“But in the main the players have delivered close to our best and got us an important win.”

Gerrard insisted his men are determined to keep the foot down and finish the season with the Scottish Cup added to the Premiership trophy.

He said: “You could see by our performance. We said once we became champions it was important to enjoy and soak up the moment.

“There’s a danger because we won it so early we could get complacent or drop our standards.

“We have done a little of late but today we were back. If we can keep that for another four or five weeks we can build on what we’ve already done.

“The key now is can we maintain those levels? If we do, we could improve on how things already are, which has been a fantastic season. It’s important now we try to treat every game like a Celtic game.”

Gerrard insisted there was no need to make a statement about next season. He said: “Today was about putting a marker down. This has been Celtic’s focus for a long time. We’ve had some European games and are still trying for an unbeaten season in the league.

“This was something that was to save Celtic’s season from a success point of view so there was a lot of focus and talk about how important this game was.

“We’ve delivered. We’ve again shown we deserved to win, that’s important. But next season will be different.”