Rangers boss Steven Gerrard 'even more disappointed' than Hearts loss as he laments lack of confidence

Manager watched his side throw away chance to gain ground on Celtic

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard admitted the confidence of his team is “shot” after they slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat by Hamilton Accies at Ibrox.

David Moyo scored a 56th-minute winner for Brian Rice’s relegation-threatened side, who leapfrogged Hearts at the bottom of the Premiership table.

It was another painful blow for Gerrard who had hoped for a more positive response from his players to their Scottish Cup quarter-final exit against Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard watches on as his side lose at home to Hamilton Accies. Picture: SNS

Rangers missed a hatful of chances as they passed up an opportunity to cut Celtic’s lead at the top of the table, instead falling 13 points behind the champions.

Gerrard admitted he was struggling to articulate his feelings as Rangers continue to struggle domestically, having dropped 13 points in nine games since the winter break.

“Where do we start?” he said. “We have just given three points away, it’s as simple as that. I’m not really sure I’ve got that many words to describe it.

“The effort was there, the commitment was there but we haven’t taken the chances we created in the game. That’s been the story of it. Hamilton have gone down the other end and scored and maybe could have scored another one.

“Again, a mistake has cost us. That’s where the three points have gone. I didn’t think I could be more disappointed than I was after Hearts – but here I am, even more disappointed that I was a few days ago.

“There were a few good performances out there, believe it or not. I thought Steven Davis was outstanding and Joe Aribo had a right go.

“I laid down the gauntlet before the game and will continue to do that. But I have a dressing room that’s shot of confidence.

“We have played ourselves into a rut and I’ve got a real tough, tough job to pick that up. I’ve been in dressing rooms where confidence is shot and things are not great.

“I’m not going to say this is the first time I’ve experienced that. But the dressing room is very quiet at the moment.

“Myself and my staff are flat because we are doing everything we can. We are trying to change formations and personnel, doing different things in training to try and lift and put confidence into them.

“We lacked desire and commitment at the weekend which was really tough to take. I don’t think we lacked that tonight. Tonight was more about quality and taking your chances.”

Accies boss Rice was thrilled by his club’s second league win at Ibrox in 94 years.

“It’s a result that has shocked everyone – except myself,” said Rice. “We were bottom of the league coming into tonight and most people would expect us to still be bottom. We’re not. That’s great credit to my lads.”