Gerrard clear that Europe is as vital as the title

STEVEN GERRARD last night insisted Rangers won’t prioritise winning the title at the expense of reaching the group stage of the Europa League. The Ibrox side hope to lift the Premiership trophy and prevent their Old Firm rivals Celtic from racking up an unprecedented ten in a row. Tomorrow, injury-hit Rangers start their European campaign in Gibraltar against Lincoln Red Imps. And Gerrard, who is adamant the club needs to keep doing well in Europe if it is to keep progressing, believes the fans would not accept it if he focused all his efforts solely on the league.

Asked if the title is the be-all and end-all, Gerrard replied: ‘That’s a very difficult question. ‘We all know how important the league is every single year. That goes without saying, but what people need to understand is European football is

vital to the club moving forward. For this club to function in a healthy way, we need to be successful in qualifying for European competitions. ‘So, at this stage, there’s no possible way that I can prioritise in terms of one competition against the other. ‘When it gets to 7.45pm on a Thursday night and you’re about to play Porto home or away, it would be impossible to do that as Rangers manager. ‘That’s because the fans love European football, home and away, and the two journeys we’ve been on so far have been major highlights of our stay here. ‘In an ideal world, I would like to have a squad that’s capable of being successful on both fronts.’ Rangers headed to Gibraltar yesterday without Ryan Jack and Brandon Barker after they were two of four players injured against Dundee United at the weekend. But striker Alfredo Morelos, who suffered a gash in his knee, joined the travelling party to face the Imps. Experienced duo Allan McGregor and

Jermain Defoe were also present after overcoming injuries. Gerrard admits reaching the group stage will help attract players to the club in future. But he insists it will be tough this season given the qualifiers are one-off matches due to coronavirus. ‘When you sit down and try to persuade players to sign for Rangers, they do want to have a European experience at Ibrox,’ he said. ‘They want to travel around the continent, testing themselves against the best players. ‘That’s going to be a bigger challenge this year because we don’t have the luxury of two-legged ties or the luxury of having 50,000 Rangers fans behind us at Ibrox. ‘We’ve maybe had a bit of luck with the draw but it will still be more testing and challenging because these are one-off games. ‘Obviously, we are not seeded, so we might need to progress through rounds two and three and who knows what could be waiting for us at the final hurdle?’