Gerrard: Morelos faces fight to replace Defoe
STEVEN GERRARD has warned suspended top scorer Alfredo Morelos that the Rangers striker position is Jermain Defoe’s to lose.
Defoe was a standout in an impressive 3-1 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle as Celtic’s title celebrations were delayed at least until next weekend.
The 36-year-old Englishman (right) struck after 15 minutes with his sixth goal of his 18-month loan spell from Bournemouth and his second strike since Morelos began serving a four-match ban. The Colombian won’t return until the home game against Hibernian on Sunday, May 5, leaving Defoe to press home his claims to keep the shirt beyond next weekend when Aberdeen visit Ibrox. Morelos has scored 29 goals in his second season in Scotland but is not guaranteed a starting place when his latest suspension is completed.
‘Jermain has unbelievable quality and if we play a system that suits him and helps him in certain things, then he will get you goals,’
said Gerrard. ‘He gives you movement. You can tell defenders are really scared to get too close to him because of his quality and he is contributing, whether it is goals or assists.
‘He has the No 9 shirt at the moment. It will be interesting to see how he performs from now until the end of the season.
‘It goes for anyone, not just in the No 9 position. I don’t pick on reputation and name.
‘In the first six months of the season, Alfredo was in form so good that it just made sense to bring him back. There wasn’t really anyone challenging for that (position). There is now.
‘There is a player playing with his confidence high, creating chances and scoring goals. Rangers should have options in this area, especially this area.’
Rangers have tripped up on occasions without their 22-year-old Colombian talisman this season. However, yesterday marked a third successive Ladbrokes Premiership win without him.
‘At times, we have been too reliant on Alfredo and we have missed our individual players when they have been absent,’ added Gerrard.
‘But credit to the players who’ve been available the last three games because that has been three (wins) out of three.
‘There has been a lot of criticism (coming) our way. We haven’t been consistent enough. The challenge from now until the end of the season is can we find a level of consistency until the summer and see where we end up? There are 12 points left and we want to give it our best efforts to try to take maximum points.
‘There’s definitely fluidity in our play and entertainment value. When we won the ball back, we showed quality and we could have scored more goals. The team performance was very strong. Nearly perfect.’
Gerrard was lavish in his praise for the midfield blend of Steven Davis, Glen Kamara and Ryan Jack that dominated Hearts. He also predicted big things from late substitute and debutant Matt Polster.
‘There is a bit of everything in there. You have Davis’s quality, his range of passing, his experience,’ said Gerrard.
‘You have Kamara who is an absolute steal for £50,000. He will be an incredible player if he keeps learning and going.
‘Ryan Jack has been my most consistent midfielder from the start of the season. I can’t figure out why he doesn’t get more Scotland caps.
‘The idea with Matt was to get him settled. It is a big change for him, so we had to get him used to the dressing room, used to Rangers.
‘He has performed really well in the reserve team. The idea was always to get him in before the end of the season and then get a strong pre-season into him. I think he might surprise a few.’
Polster’s first outing for Rangers following his January move was accompanied by ‘USA’ chants from the travelling fans.
‘That helped kick the nerves out of me,’ said Polster. ‘That support is massive.’