Steven Gerrard predicts Jermain Defoe will make it to 900 career appearances after he helps Rangers continue their title charge

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard hailed veteran striker Jermain Defoe for making his 800th career appearance in the 4-0 win over Ross County on Sunday – and backed him to add another century before he hangs up his boots.
Jermain Defoe marks his 800th career appearance by scoring the final goal in Rangers' 4-0 win over Ross County in Dingwall on Sunday. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)Jermain Defoe marks his 800th career appearance by scoring the final goal in Rangers' 4-0 win over Ross County in Dingwall on Sunday. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)
Jermain Defoe marks his 800th career appearance by scoring the final goal in Rangers' 4-0 win over Ross County in Dingwall on Sunday. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Defoe scored his fourth goal in eight appearances for Rangers this season when he came off the bench to wrap up another Premiership victory for Gerrard’s side. The 38-year-old’s minutes on the pitch may be more limited in the current campaign but Gerrard has no doubts his former England team-mate will continue to make an important contribution.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he went on to make 900 appearances,” said Gerrard. “He’s in incredible shape and loves coming into work.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He is still trying to learn and improve. He is ready at any given moment. You can see he is hungry to get on the pitch, you can tell by his performance he is still hungry to score goals.

“I thought Cedric Itten was magnificent in setting up Jermain’s goal. It’s a big help knowing you’ve got JD there to come and help kill teams off.

“He’ll start enough games this season and he’ll get enough cameos coming on. He is a big, important player for us moving forward.”

Rangers have now kept 14 clean sheets in 16 league games this season, a statistic which pleases Gerrard just as much as his captain James Tavernier’s remarkable tally of 16 goals and 12 assists.

“Our clean sheet record, to me, is just as important as James’ other numbers,” said Gerrard. “But where he is right now, he needs to bottle that form and stay there.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.