Steven Gerrard tells Rangers players to shake hands win or lose

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard will urge his players to follow his lead and shake hands with the opposition after every match, regardless of the result, after some of them were criticised for their reaction to defeat at Livingston on Sunday.

There were acrimonious scenes at the final whistle which saw Rangers duo Alfredo Morelos and Daniel Candeias accused of refusing to observe the traditional post-match rituals with the victorious Livingston players.

While Gerrard believes the fall-out from the incident has been given too much prominence and significance, he admits he expects his team to show professional respect to their opponents.

“You should shake hands whether you win, lose or draw,” said Gerrard. “I shook hands with every single one of the Livingston players and their coaching staff. I didn’t enjoy it, but I showed my respects.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard at training. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty

“All of our players were angry and annoyed. Livingston were well within their rights to celebrate. It was a massive win for them. When Rangers come to town it’s everyone’s cup final, everyone wants to beat us.

“They are within their rights if they keep it respectful. We are well within our rights to feel upset and disappointed.

“That’s football. If my players had skipped off the pitch happy, it wouldn’t have been right - likewise if the Livingston players hadn’t celebrated.

“It’s an emotional game, that’s why we play it. Maybe they got it slightly wrong, maybe we got it slightly wrong. But who’s bothered? We lost, we move on.

“Yeah, you should always shake hands. Because we are Rangers and we are playing for a historic club that shows class. That’s who we are representing.

“So sometimes you have to bite your tongue or hold your emotions back and save it for when we are behind closed doors.

“You have always got to be respectful. But listen, it’s not important now, it’s gone.”