JACK OF HEARTS
Stevie Ryan as nutmeg goal gives Rangers derby win
Rangers hero Ryan Jack insists their thrilling derby win over Celtic can give them the belief to win the title.
The midfielder hit a first-half winner at Ibrox to secure Gers’ f irst victory in 13 meetings with the Hoops.
It put Steven Gerrard’s side level on points with Celtic at the top going into the winter break – even though the champions have a game in hand.
But match-winner Jack insists the longawaited win can give Rangers the belief that they
can finally get the better of their Old Firm rivals.
The midfielder said: “It gives you belief that you can win it.
“It has been a long time since the club has won one of these games.
“We’ve had that belief in the last few days, that we could win this game, and we were excellent.
“It’s three points that have got us level with Celtic. But in terms of the title, it puts us in a better place. We now have a winter break where we can reflect and get ready to hit the ground running when we come back.”
Boss Steven Gerrard savoured the triumph and warned war Celtic his side won’t won be standing still after their thei first Old Firm league win wi in seven years. Hai H l ing his side for winning win every individual battle ba in a dominant triumph, triu he still kept a lid on ttheir title aspirations.
Gerrard, G who hopes to strengthen stre in the transfer window, win said: “To a man, all overo the pitch we were better bett than Celtic.
“WWe won every single one v one. We were more aggressive, agg we created more, mor we could have won by a bigger margin.
“But B Celtic are a good team.am tea They stuck in there andnd an made the final momentsom mo tense but I’m so pleasedea ple with my players right righ rig now.
“At a club this size you can’t can stand still though.
“You need to keep striving str to improve and grow gro in all areas of the pitch, pit myself included.
“We need to try and strengthen str in certain areas so wwe won’t stand still and milk mi this moment.
“We’ll enjoy the win and then the we’ll have a rest, get back ba on the horse and get ready rea to go again.
“But we still have a lot of hard ha work to do.”