Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos ‘seems like he’s over Sunday’ says Steven Gerrard

Alfredo Morelos during training ahead of Rangers' Europa League tie against Young Boys

So as they confront their decisive Group G fixture against Swiss champions Young Boys at Ibrox tonight, the last thing Steven Gerrard’s team need is for their leading marksman  to suffer any kind of crisis in confidence.

But the Rangers manager is happy to report that Morelos is displaying no lingering signs of the frustration which enveloped him during Sunday’s dramatic League Cup Final defeat to Celtic at Hampden.

It would be only natural if the Colombian striker’s failure to break his scoring duck in Old Firm combat, with his misery compounded by seeing a penalty saved by Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster, pictured,was still hovering over him like a dark cloud. Instead, Gerrard insists the man who has scored a remarkable 13 goals in Europe so far this season is more than ready to help Rangers over the line against Young Boys.

“Alfredo has just been Alfredo, same as always,” said Gerrard. “He’s been good in training in the last couple of days, he’s been bubbly and chirpy. He seems like he’s over Sunday, which is good – because we need him to be over it.

“He’s the reason why we’ve got a huge, huge chance to top the group.

“He’s one of our main players – if we are to have our day, he’ll be a big part of it. You don’t want one of you main players moping around and feeling sorry for himself. And I haven’t seen any of that, I’ll be honest with you.

“I’ve seen people clearly upset and down because we never got the result we all wanted in the final. Of course, I’ve seen that.

“But since our day off on Monday, coming in on Tuesday morning, there has been no sign of anyone feeling sorry for themselves, which is  good.

“We can’t have any kind of hangover or anyone carrying Sunday’s result into this game. It’s a different competition, a different challenge and we have to be at our best or close to it to get the outcome that we want, which is to top the group. I’ve got confidence the players will be fine, on the evidence of what I’ve seen in training. The fans will help the players on Thursday and the players are desperate to change the mood of the supporters.

“If we get everyone on the same page, the mood around Rangers could change pretty quickly over the 90 minutes if we manage to get the job done.”

Gerrard feels criticism of Morelos’ display against Celtic is harsh and feels the 23-year-old’s only fault may have been in ‘trying too hard’ against opponents he has now faced 11 times without finding the net.

“Alfredo will never hide, he’s not that type of player,” added Gerrard. “He wants the responsibility.

“Look, he met a ‘keeper who put in a world-class performance. That doesn’t happen every game. Alfredo did everything he could for his team so I think it would be very unfair if I was to criticise him.

“He was unplayable at times, was getting shots off, and everything we wanted our number nine to do on the day, he carried it out.

“Of course, the penalty miss is huge because it completely swings the whole game. But a penalty is a penalty - people miss them and people score them.

“It’s probably down to a combination of things that he hasn’t scored against Celtic. One, it’s the toughest challenge in the league playing against the best defenders and best goalkeepers, more often than not.

“It’s the most high profile game, so that comes with extra nerves and responsibilities. He’s probably trying too hard as the run has gone on but one thing is for sure, if he keeps doing what he’s doing, then it will turn at some point. I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t.”

Rangers, unbeaten in their last 15 European matches at Ibrox, would qualify for the last 32 with a draw against Young Boys. They could even go through with a defeat, should Feyenoord beat Porto in the other Group G match.

But Gerrard’s sights are firmly fixed on taking on all three points which would see Rangers top a four-team European group for the first time ever. They did finish first in their Uefa Cup group in 2006-07 in a five-team format where the clubs only played each other once.

“We want to win and top the group, for sure,” said Gerrard. “As long as I represent this club, we will never go out at Ibrox looking for a draw. Ever. Or away. But certainly not at home with 50,000 behind us and the opportunity to top a group. It’s a nice carrot for the players after all they’ve gone through in the last few days. Young Boys are a very dangerous challenge for us, with a lot of pace in their team. They have some really good players and have been playing in a 4-4-2 system with two up front and a lot of speed and a lot of dynamic players who like to play on the counter, go quite direct and get bodies around your central defenders. We’re well aware of their threats, they are a good team and we cannot underestimate their challenge. We are prepared for them, we know their strengths and their weaknesses and we’re confident we can get this job done if we play well. What we  can’t do is have a hangover from Sunday. That’s  key.”