Gerrard: Variety has helped Rangers spice up their goal threat

Steven Gerrard believes variety has helped spice up Rangers’ attack on their red-hot run towards the title.

It is no major surprise to see the unbeaten Premiership leaders topping the scoring charts with 67 goals this season.

But Gerrard has taken real satisfaction from the spread of goals through his squad as every member of the team has chipped in to Gers’ winning effort.

In seasons past, Rangers were guilty of being over-reliant on Alfredo Morelos but this time they have had 16 different players contributing to the scoring total – second only to the ever-changing Celtic line-up’s tally of 18.

The Ibrox boss has also been delighted with the wide assortment of goals his team have managed this term.

With nine from corners and a couple each from direct free-kicks and dead-ball deliveries, no one has netted more than the Light Blues’ 13 set-piece strikes.

It has been the perfect mix for Rangers, who now sit just six wins away from being crowned champions.

“I think it’s a combination of things,” said Gerrard.

“We have better players in and around the squad now. We are in the strongest position we have been in since this journey began.

“Work on the training ground has helped us in terms of our variety – having different tools to break teams down. We have improved massively in terms of set play.

“People are standing up at big moments for us. You look at Ianis Hagi the other night against St Johnstone. That’s a very important goal for us, equally as important as Alfredo’s was the week before at Hibs.

“Throughout the season the goals have been spread really nicely throughout the squad and that tells me we are in a really good place. We are not reliant on one or two individuals.”

And Gerrard is now considering throwing a couple of new ingredients into his winning formula for Sunday’s trip to Hamilton.

Jack Simpson joined his new team-mates for the first time on Friday after the January recruit from Bournemouth was given the Covid all-clear, while former Aberdeen winger Scott Wright will be hoping for some minutes after spending his first game as a Rangers player watching Wednesday’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone from the bench.

Gerrard said: “We have had to be a bit more patient with Jack because it’s different in terms of the Covid testing.

“Scott’s Covid test from Aberdeen covered him to join in a bit quicker but quite possibly you could see both at the weekend. Both are fit, well and available which is a real positive.”

Gers ran riot against Accies last time they met at Ibrox back in November, dishing out an 8-0 pasting.

But Gerrard still has painful memories of last March’s shock defeat to Brian Rice’s side and said: “We expect a tough game like we always get there when we face Brian’s team. We only have to go back to last year to realise we can’t go there and underestimate the opponent.

“One thing I will say about Brian’s teams is that they usually come and have a go. We have never really faced a Hamilton team where it has been a complete block for the full game, that’s for sure.

“At times, with the way we play, we are going to be faced with men behind the ball and there is a lot of responsibility on the attacking boys to be creative.

“Having said that, you can win a game in many different ways. It could be a set-piece, it could be a direct play and there are different ways to cause teams problems.

“That has been my full focus, not necessarily what Hamilton are going to do. It is how we are going to go and take the game to Hamilton and try and be creative as we can.”