Steven Gerrard hails 'bravery' of his Rangers players as they recover early deficit to beat Motherwell 3-1 at Ibrox

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard praised the reaction of his players after they came from behind to beat Motherwell and extend their lead at the top of the Premiership to 16 points.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard celebrates his team's second goal in their 3-1 Premiership victory against Motherwell at Ibrox. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

Gerrard’s side were caught cold by Callum Lang’s sixth minute opener for the visitors but their composure and patience was rewarded in the second half. Kemar Roofe equalised in the 72nd minute before substitute Cedric Itten put Rangers in front. Roofe added a third in stoppage time.

“We got off to the worst possible start after beginning on the front foot,” said Gerrard. “We’ve had a couple of shots from Jermain early in the game and even at that point you could see it was going to be on us to beat them.

“We were up against a five in defence and a five in midfield today, which was a new experience, so that’s something we will have to look into.

“We never defended their goal well enough. We should win the first header, we give a silly throw-in away and then we turn our backs on it.

“The player then had a free run at the back post and you can’t defend like that at the top level.

“What I will say is that our reaction to going a goal down was really pleasing. I thought we remained calm, we showed bravery and a persistence to keep going.

“We knew it would come at the end if we kept making chances. The application was there, we just needed the players to do their own individual roles better.

“They were doing okay, but okay is not good enough when you are a goal down. We needed the players to be better at what they were doing and that’s why I thought the subs were massive for me today.

“They helped us win the game because they all had a big impact. But even at one-nil down there wasn’t a lot wrong. We had all the ball, we were asking all the questions. It was about staying patient and waiting on that one lapse in concentration from Motherwell. When it came we were able to respond.”

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