‘I’m happy at Rangers. I don’t wish I was in Premier League’ - Gerrard

It was billed as one of Scottish football’s most mouthwatering heavyweight contests when Steven Gerrard rolled into Rangers last May and climbed into a ring where his former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was undisputed champion through his Celtic knock-outs.

Steven Gerrard is focusing on the visit of Dundee as Rangers bid to close the gap on Celtic. Picture: SNS.

Now, with Rodgers having left for Leicester City the bout has ended after a mere two rounds – each of the men posting one derby win in their head-to-heads. The lure of the Premier League has proved too much for the Northern Irishman. For Gerrard, though, that domain does not figure in his thinking as he seeks to make a success of his first role in senior management.

Gerrard said he was “not interested in making a comment” when asked if Rodgers’ choosing of Leicester over Celtic said anything about the relative sizes of the clubs. The 39-year-old’s sole focus, he said, was the stature of the football club he was given the opportunity to take charge of ten months ago.

“Rangers is massive, Rangers is huge and that’s the reason why I decided to take this opportunity up. I really appreciate where I sit right now and the job I have got here,” he said. “This is a huge job.

“There must be [an appeal to England] for Brendan because he’s decided to go to Leicester. It’s certainly not the case with myself. I am very happy and settled here and delighted I am the Rangers manager. I don’t look at the Premier League, I don’t wish I was in the Premier League, I am very happy here.”

It wouldn’t be human nature if those of a Rangers disposition weren’t happy to see the back of Rodgers, who has been so pivotal in Celtic’s monopoly of domestic honours across his two-and-three-quarter years. Gerrard concedes he hopes that the champions’ rhythm is upset in a run-in that sees the Ibrox men require to overturn an eight-point deficit to topple their eight-in-a-row chasing rivals. A bid that will continue this evening as they host Dundee while Celtic, now helmed by interim manager Neil Lennon, face a dicey trip to Tynecastle.

“We are always hoping that teams we are competing against have their rhythm upset of course we are. But that’s not at Celtic, that’s at Aberdeen, Hearts, everywhere. And we are hoping that we are in the team that are in good form with the rhythm. It’s nothing really that we can control. All we can focus on is doing our job and we have got Dundee to focus on now. We are in good form, we are on a bit of a crest of a wave. But it’s imperative we go in with the same application and hunger we have done in the last few fixtures.

“I’ve had experience both ways, really [when a manager changes]. Sometimes the rhythm can be upset and it might take a little bit of time to get used to the new manager, but at the same time it can have the reverse effect and it can have the instant impact and it’s seamless.

“For us nothing really changes. We are still going to be competing against a very good Celtic team and [with Neil Lennon] in charge of Celtic [they have someone] who is desperate to beat myself and Rangers, so nothing changes for us.

“It’s no surprise that other teams are after Brendan’s services. I have had first-hand experience of working with him and I know what a good coach he is. He has had big success since he arrived at Celtic. In terms of the timing, you can never really control the timing of these things because if a manager in the Premier League decides they want to change and they go for someone else then it’s very difficult to control the timing.”

Dundee have started building for next season by signing Queen of the South midfielder Josh Todd on a pre-contract agreement.

Todd, who helped Queens knock Dundee out of the Scottish Cup, will join in the summer on a two-year contract.

The Dark Blues will face a familiar face at Ibrox tonight after midfielder Glen Kamara made a swift impact at Ibrox following his move from Dens Park in the final hours of the January transfer window.

Paul McGowan admits he has been impressed by just how quickly his former team-mate has established himself in Gerrard’s team.

He said: “I’m a big admirer of Glen. When he came in people said he was a bit casual. That’s just the way he plays, he plays the game nice and easy. But I have been so impressed with him. I mainly watched the Rangers game on Sunday to see how he got on. It’s nice seeing him do well because he’s a lovely lad. ”