Gerrard asking fans to pump up the volume

RANGERS: Manager wants Ibrox support to roar his players through gruelling title-race schedule

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has called on the Ibrox support to roar his players through their gruelling title-race schedule.

Gerrard’s side return to Ladbrokes Premiership action for the first time since their Celtic Park triumph when they host St Mirren tonight – but the second half of the campaign is set to test their stamina levels to the maximum.

As well as their Buddies clash, Rangers also have another 14 games – nine at home – crammed into an eightweek period leading up to the next international break.

That hectic calendar could become even busier if they progress past Braga in the Europa League and Hamilton in the Scottish Cup.

The Englishman, who has axed Eros Grezda and Andy King this month while also allowing Jamie Murphy and Jamie Barjonas to leave on loan, is confident he has the squad to cope.

But he wants the Rangers faithful to do their bit to help his team by pumping up the volume levels. He said: “We had a six-week block before the break where it felt we were away for the majority of it.

“We now need to make the most of Ibrox and we’ll certainly need our fans to make some noise. Hopefully we can get back into our rhythm and build on our last league performance.

“Our next midweek off isn’t until the next international break and if we can perform like we are capable against Braga then there could be more fixtures. There’s also the Hamilton game in the cup.

“It’s what we’re used to and I think that’s when we’re at our best. The players look ready and hopefully they can perform (tonight) against St Mirren.”

Rangers sit two points behind Neil Lennon’s Hoops but have a game in hand.

A date has yet to be set for the outstanding fixture with St Johnstone and they might be forced to wait until after the league split to play the clash with Tommy Wright’s team if they continue to march on in Europe and the cup.

But the threat of a fixture pile-up is a worry for another day, according to Gerrard, who said: “There’s no confirmation on the St Johnstone date. It is what is. We’ll handle whatever comes our way.

“It’s out of our control and we are waiting to find a space for it.”

Time on the training pitch will be limited in the weeks to come but Gerrard made sure his team got themselves ready for Saints during their winter training camp in Dubai.

He said: “We didn’t just prepare for last Friday’s game with Stranraer over the last couple of weeks.

“We’ve been preparing in a certain way, trying to foresee what kind of tactics we’re going to come up against, certainly at home.

“Listening to what Jim Goodwin (St Mirren boss) has said, they’re going to be very organised, compact, hard to beat and very stubborn like they were at Paisley (1-0 on August 25).

“We needed a moment of magic from Borna Barisic that day.

“We’ve had enough training time, the players know exactly what they need to do and how they need to approach it. Now they just need to execute the gameplan we’ve given them.”

Jim Goodwin’s side go into the game on the back of a 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Broxburn Athletic and defender Calum Waters recognises the contrast in the level of Saints’ upcoming opponents.

He said: “It is two polar opposite games, going from having 78% possession to the flip side of that, not having as much. But we are used to that, most of the time we sit off teams, so we will be prepared for the game.

“It is just down to concentration. “They are probably the form team in the league at present so we will definitely need to be prepared for it.”

We now need to make the most of Ibrox and we’ll certainly need our fans to make some noise. STEVEN GERRARD