‘I’ll fight to keep Alfredo at Ibrox’

Betfred Cup final — and manager Gerrard has made it clear how important Morelos, the subject of a rejected £8million offer from Chinese side Beijing Renhe in January, will be as he bids to build a team capable of winning honours.

‘I’m not going to name any of the players I played with (in comparison) because I don’t think it’s fair on Alfredo, but what I will say is I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep him here for as long as possible,’ said Gerrard.

‘I’ll fall out with people to keep him here. That’s how much I like and respect him, but I also understand every player has his price.

‘I want to keep him here as long as possible because he makes my job a lot easier.’

Morelos was initially left out for Kyle Lafferty yesterday to keep him fresh ahead of a hectic run of games, but still picked up a booking for dissent that will rule him out of the visit to Dundee on December 9.

‘No complaints,’ said Gerrard. ‘I ask him to be in peoples’ faces, to be aggressive, press and not stop short, do what other centre-forwards do to our defenders.

‘I need to share some of that blame (for the bookings). His performance for 30 minutes was superb.

‘We have to enjoy him because he’s a top player. It was on my mind to leave him completely fresh for Thursday but, at 1-0, the game had a bit of a lull.

‘There wasn’t much happening and you had a top-class player sitting behind you desperate to get on. I felt maybe he could provide the spark to put the game to bed — and that’s what he did.

‘I’m not sure if he has any targets. You’ll have to ask him. But there’s no doubt he’s going to shatter what he got last season and in previous seasons.

‘I’m told by people it’s the happiest he’s looked. He recently signed a new deal.

‘The key for us is to keep him healthy, try to avoid these will be there for him.’

Gerrard admits Rangers struggled to play free-flowing football against a dogged Livingston, but insists the importance of securing the win should not be underestimated.

‘At times, it didn’t look great on the eye,’ he said. ‘Fans come here and expect us to play with style and rhythm but, at times, teams will come here and try to spoil. They will go man for man in midfield and try to make it physical.

‘They will throw themselves over to get fouls and set-pieces. They will try to spoil the game and, at times, Livingston succeeded in spoiling the game.

‘We were brave and stood up to them. Eventually, we got our reward because we’ve got a top centre-forward who came on and gave us the spark that was needed.

‘It’s a big three points. Celtic asked us a question today (by winning 3-0 earlier in the day at Hamilton) and we have answered it.’