Steven Gerrard hails 'unplayable' Morelos and 'superb' Patterson as Rangers look forward to Europa League last 16 draw

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard says his team will be ‘punching above their weight’ if they are paired with English Premier League opponents in Friday’s Europa League last 16 draw.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard congratulates teenage full-back Nathan Patterson at the end of the 5-2 Europa League win against Royal Antwerp at Ibrox. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Gerrard expressed his pride at the attacking flair shown by the Scottish Premiership leaders as they defeated Royal Antwerp 5-2 at Ibrox to complete a 9-5 aggregate victory in a remarkable last 32 tie.

English heavyweights Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham are among the potential sides Rangers could face in the next round.

“What we will do is look forward to the draw with excitement and we will look forward to both ties,” said Gerrard.

“Whoever you come up against in the last 16, it is going to be a big challenge, especially if you get one of those English teams because we would be punching well above our weight for sure.

“We have matched our performance from last year in terms of getting to the last 16 but we want to keep trying to impress ourselves and keep trying to go one further from a European point of view.”

Goals from Alfredo Morelos, Nathan Patterson, Ryan Kent, Borna Barisic and Cedric Itten saw Rangers triumph in another pulsating 90 minutes after the drama of their 4-3 win in Belgium seven days earlier.

Patterson’s stunning contribution, scoring just 16 seconds after coming on as a substitute as he returned to the squad after a period of self-isolation for his breach of coronavirus regulations, was a headline-grabbing moment.

But while Gerrard was pleased for the 19-year-old full-back, he reserved his greatest praise for striker Morelos who was the tie’s outstanding performer over the course of both legs.

“It was probably the strongest performance Alfredo has put in this season when you look at the all-round game,” said Gerrard.

“I thought he was unplayable, strong, held the ball up well for us and was really physical and their defenders couldn’t handle him over the course of the 90 minutes.

“The support from Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi was high level as well and that is probably, in terms of a front three that we have put out, the strongest performance of the season.

“Obviously there are a few issues in terms of the goals conceded that we will look at and try to learn from and grow from. But, in the main, I'm really proud and pleased with the overall performance.

“Nathan was superb in terms of his football tonight, he came on with the right mentality and brought energy and physicality and obviously scored a wonderful goal. It was the reaction that he needed and that we needed for the team.

“It's been quite a week and it should be the biggest learning curve of that boy's career. He's a fantastic kid and he comes from a lovely family. He needs to understand what the people top to bottom at this football club think of him.

"He's got an opportunity and he needs to learn from this and make sure it doesn't happen again. He's a wonderful footballer with a big future ahead of him.

“As someone with four kids myself I want to be someone who gives people a second chance. I have made similar mistakes myself. I hope he takes on board what we have said to him this week.”

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