Steven Gerrard explains Rangers mentality issue and expresses concern over title defence after Motherwell draw

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard bemoaned his team’s defending after they dropped Premiership points at Ibrox for the first time since March 2020 and warned his players their title defence could flounder if they don’t tighten up soon.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard makes his feelings known to fourth official Steven Reid during his team's 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Ibrox. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

The Scottish champions failed to build on Fashion Sakala’s early goal against Motherwell and paid the price when Kaiyne Woolery equalised in the second half.

“At times we were vulnerable today and at 1-0 you always leave yourself wide open to drop two points,” said Gerrard.

“We scored one good goal, but for me that was a 3-0 or 4-0 game if we go and reward ourselves for all our good play.

“We have got to defend situations better. We got a lot of praise last year for clean sheets and being really tough to play against, but their goal has come from us being a little bit flaky. We could have got out wide quicker, we could have dealt with that situation

“Unfortunately we concede a goal on the back of that and that is where the frustration comes in.

“It has been mentioned now, so we will see what kind of reaction we get – because if you keep having those moments, unfortunately you won’t get at the end of the season what you are looking for.

“It is important that we learn from today. At 1-0, we have got to go and take our chances, we need people to step up in the final third and be more creative. We need people to take our chances because if that went to 2-0 today, I could see more goals on the back of that. At 1-0, I never really felt comfortable, so we need to look at that.

“Defensively, it is a mentality thing – and also going forward. We need players who have that hunger, that determination to really go and bust a gut to score goals and create goals. I saw a lot of outstanding performances today, but it was only from box to box. We never had enough in the final third which, for me, we need to keep working towards.”

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