‘World-class’ – Gerrard raves about one Rangers player ahead of clash v Lech Poznan
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has heaped praise on striker Jermain Defoe after he scored a sublime goal against Livingston on Sunday.
Defoe, 38, scored with a deft, first-time finish into the bottom corner after a long-range pass from right-back James Tavernier.
It helped the Light Blues earn a 2-0 win at Ibrox and move six points clear of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Rangers take on Lech Poznan in their second Europa League group stage match on Thursday night but Defoe will be unavailable as the former Tottenham striker wasn’t named in Gerrard’s squad for the tournament.
However, that hasn’t stopped the Gers manager from singing the praises of the Englishman in his pre-match press conference.
“It is fantastic to have our attacking options and is the first time I have had this luxury. This is the challenge of the job and I get paid to pick the team based on the work in training. It was a good performance from Jermain (Defoe) at the weekend and a world-class goal,” said Gerrard, as quoted by Rangers’ official Twitter account on Wednesday afternoon.
It is a shame that Defoe has missed out on Gerrard’s Europa League squad but with the veteran striker suffering from an injury at the start of the season, you could see why the Gers boss went with his other striker options.
Alfredo Morelos, Cedric Itten and Kemar Roofe should be able to provide the goals that Rangers need to qualify from their Europa League group and also, those three players might have more of a future at Ibrox than Defoe, whose contract expires next summer.
Gerrard might also see Defoe as someone who can play in matches against the likes of Livingston.
They’re games you would expect the Gers to win and as Defoe is 38, he might not be able to play twice in a week.
In other Rangers news, there’s been an update on this player’s period of quarantine.