Gerrard vows to keep Ibrox stars together

Defiant Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is ready to shoot down bids for his Ibrox invincibles.

Rangers chiefs have already admitted they will have to sell off at least one of their major assets this summer to balance the books.

But Gerrard is determined to keep the squad who recaptured the Premiership title together.

Asked if he feared seeing his unbeaten leaguewinning side broken up, the Light Blues boss said: “Let me flip the question for you. If anyone wanted to take them away from me, they best bring an army with them.”

The likelihood is that Rangers will face a battle to retain the players who have led the charge for the club’s 55th championship.

Borna Barisic, Glen Kamara, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos will be the men in biggest demand after playing a key role in the Ibrox title push.

A momentous year saw the Light Blues set a raft of new records as they washed away a decade of hurt.

And Gerrard revealed he first saw the seeds of success being sown last summer.

He said: “It’s a special achievement. It’s very rare to go a season unbeaten and that’s the reason why I’m so proud of the players.

“The consistency levels have been impressive.

“I got a really good feeling about pre-season on the back of last season being curtailed. The focus felt different.

“We got off to a real strong start at Aberdeen. That was a real key game to make a statement and we did that.

“We’ve built this on steel, resolve and organisation and we’ve added some quality players recruitmentwise to give us the firepower and to take some of the responsibility off key players.

“Collectively we’ve done it with style, so we’ve got both sides of it spot on and the players deserve all the credit for it.”

Rangers finished off their blemish-free season with a 4-0 romp against Aberdeen.

It was a painful afternoon for the Dons, who remain in transition under new boss Stephen Glass.

“I don’t feel positive on the back of a result like this,” admitted the Pittodrie manager. “But I’ve seen encouraging signs since I’ve been at the club.

“I do know what’s needed to change things and I’ll make the changes that’s required, when we can.

“We’ll continue building and the players now know how we work.

“We have had a few disappointments along the way and this is another one.”

Rangers players celebrate their title win after the 4-0 victory over Aberdeen.