STEVEN Gerrard said his side’s lack of killer instinct could prove costly even as they climbed back to the summit of the Ladbrokes Premiership table. Leading courtesy of a solitary Daniel Candeias strike as early as the third minute, Rangers won no fewer than 22 corners but couldn’t quite put a game Hamilton Accies side away. While the Englishman will be able to welcome the suspended Alfredo Morelos back into his team for Wednesday night’s meeting against a Hibs team fresh from taking down champions Celtic, he said that he couldn’t care less about being top of the league right now and had desperately hoped to have the luxury of resting tired legs ahead of the visit to Easter Road.
“I’m happy with the win and the clean sheet but we’ve got a lot to learn in terms of the performance,” said Gerrard. “We put 22 corners in today and over 30 crosses. We created enough opportunities and got into some really exciting areas of the pitch. But we had zero killer instinct today. That’s a concern.
“I’m not really interested - with all due respect - in being top of the league right now,” he added. “We were top of the league before, then went and lost and drew our next two games. So what’s more important to me now is what we can learn from the performance. It’s blatantly obvious we have to learn to kill teams off in the final third.”
“A lot of our game was good today. Out of possession we were really good. Going forward, we were wave after wave after wave. But when we got to the final part of the
pitch, we lacked that bit of magic – that final pass, that incredible cross.
“We lacked that player who is going to step up and kill the game off. We should have had the game won in the first 15 minutes. I should have had the luxury of being able to take players off the pitch and give them a rest before Hibs, which is going to be a tough game.
“What I had planned in my head, I wasn’t able to do with substitutions because we made such hard work of winning a game which should have been a lot easier.”
With four matches until the break – Hibs (twice), St Johnstone then Celtic – winger Eros Grezda said everyone at the club is targeting being at the top of the table when 2019 begins.
“Celtic are having a hard time too because they’re playing every three days so I think opponents try to take advantage of these opportunities. The league is complicated a little but, we’ll see in four games it’ll be more clear than it is now. Where would we want to be then? Just where we are now.”
Gerrard, who said he was hoping to address his side’s failings in the final third when the window opens in January, admitted Wednesday’s game with Hibs is shaping up to be
pivotal.
“It is a huge match, huge,” said Gerrard. “I think they are in a false position in the league in terms of the quality they have got. They are a team that will try to play. They will
be full of confidence after beating Celtic, so we are under no illusions, it’s going to be really tough. We’ve got a lot of respect for Hibs, but what a game. It’s exciting for us.
“The atmosphere will be great and I’m really looking forward to it. In terms of headway on transfers I don’t know because you never know until you get the breakthrough.”
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