Steven Gerrard says he 'wouldn't have believed' Rangers could clinch title so early in the season as he praises his 'superstar' team

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has acclaimed the collective effort of his champions-elect and admits they have exceeded his expectations by being in a position to potentially clinch the Premiership crown in the first weekend of March.

Steven Gerrard will close to within one point of winning the Premiership title as Rangers manager if his team beat St Mirren at Ibrox on Saturday. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

Gerrard’s squad would formally wrap up their club’s 55th league title if they defeat St Mirren at Ibrox on Saturday and closest challengers Celtic drop any points against Dundee United at Tannadice on Sunday.

“As the season has moved on, it has become a possibility,” said Gerrard. “But if you’d said to me at the start of the season that we would be as close as we are early in March, I wouldn’t have believed that.

“I was confident and had belief in this group that we were going to react on the previous season, really be focused and in the zone.

“This started on the first day of pre-season - even before that, really, on some of the Zoom calls we had (during the first lockdown).

“I could really see a determined group wanting to come back in the zone, ready to give everything they had this season.

“So I was really confident we could compete and be there at the business end of the season, for sure. But to be in the position we are now is credit to the players, what they have given and the consistency levels they’ve produced.

“We just want to get it done now. We don’t want to wait. We just want to get it over the line.”

While Rangers have been certainties to win the title for several months, the winner of this season’s main individual honour is still difficult to predict with the Ibrox squad providing several outstanding candidates for Scotland’s Player of the Year.

“The team is the superstar here,” said Gerrard. “We are not built on five, six or seven superstars. There is no ego in this squad. Everyone contributes for the team.

“The players have all bought into that. We have to do things, our behaviours all have to represent what’s best for the team. That’s the pleasing thing for me.

“The other pleasing thing for me is that I don’t have to pick a Player of the Year or a Goal of the Year, because that could take some time."

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