Steven Gerrard says St Mirren defeat is more than just 'a bump in the road for Rangers'

The Betfred Cup may not have been top of any list of priorities compiled by Steven Gerrard at the start of this season.

Rangers defender Leon Balogun suffered a head knock during their Betfred Cup quarter-final defeat at St Mirren and will be assessed before the Premiership match against Motherwell at Ibrox on Saturday. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

But that didn’t make Wednesday night’s 3-2 quarter-final defeat at St Mirren any easier for the Rangers manager to take. Gerrard knew his team’s unbeaten run this season was always going to come to an end at some point but he would have preferred it to have happened in different circumstances.

“You are not expecting to win every game and there will be bumps in the road,” he reflected. “But this is more than a bump. It was a big opportunity (to win a trophy).

“In the league or Europe, you can get a chance to recover. But there’s no chance to recover in a knockout competition, so it stings even harder.

“So we have to live with that and take what’s going to come our way. My job now is a big job, to make sure we are ready to go again.”

Rangers return to action when they host Motherwell at Ibrox on Saturday and look to extend their lead over champions Celtic in the Premiership title race to 16 points. They may be without defender Leon Balogun who suffered a head injury in Paisley.

“He’s a bit dizzy,” said Gerrard. “So we will analyse him over the next couple of days and take advice from the medical staff. Hopefully he can pull through. If not, we have Fil available again.”

Gerrard will again be without striker Alfredo Morelos as he completes the two-match ban Rangers accepted after the Scottish FA cited him for a clash with Dundee United’s Mark Connolly.

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