Steven Gerrard praises Rangers' patience in Europa League qualifying win
Tuesday 9 July 2019 22:32, UK
Steven Gerrard feels Rangers' patience in Gibraltar bodes well for the coming season after four second-half goals saw off Europa League opponents St Joseph’s.
Rangers fans endured a goalless opening period of the first qualifying round but Ryan Jack settled their nerves four minutes after the interval.
Debutant Sheyi Ojo, left-back Borna Barisic and substitute Alfredo Morelos rounded off a 4-0 first-leg win and Gerrard was more than satisfied with his team's first competitive outing of the campaign.
"We are going to face this a lot this season where teams are going to sit in and make it difficult for us," he told Rangers TV. "It is important we show patience.
"If we took a chance in the first half then it would have been a little bit more enjoyable in the first half but you have got to stay at it, keep pushing, keep grinding, keep probing, and you hope that one of your big players steps up and makes the difference. And, again, Ryan Jack has done that for us."
The Rangers manager added: "I thought we showed a fantastic attitude and mentality.
"These places are tough because the conditions are tough, the pitch is tough, they put a lot of men behind the ball and they try and break up play, make fouls and slow the game down.
"So a lot of things were against the team and they set us a challenge to go and meet the block. But we showed fantastic patience and eventually we took one of our chances and the game then changes in our favour, and we go on from there to build and keep showing really good quality."
