STEVEN Gerrard last night praised his Rangers players for their performance in the 0-0 draw with Hibernian at Easter Road - despite the result allowing Celtic to move above them into first place in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

The Ibrox club dominated the league game in Edinburgh, but failed to take their scoring chances and slipped to second in the top flight table behind their city rivals as a consequence.

However, Gerrard, who revealed that Scott Arfield had suffered a hamstring injury in the first-half, was content with how his players acquitted themselves against Neil Lennon's side.

“The performance was there," he said. "We were excellent for the majority of the game. So I was really pleased and proud of the performance.

“I was disappointed with the result obviously because we’ve been so dominant and created the best chances in the first half, the best chances in the second half.

“We’ve done everything but find that breakthrough. So it’s a little bit mixed. I’m pleased with the performance but not the result."

Gerrard added: "We certainly want to improve on that ruthlessness in front of goal, not just tonight, always.

“But sometimes you have to hold your hand up and say we’ve found a sub keeper (Adam Bogdan) who has come on and bailed his team out on probably four or five occasions.

“You can’t be too critical of players, we’re creating chances, we’re getting really good opportunities to score.

“The reason we were top of the league before the game was probably Alfredo (Morelos) and he’s the one who had the chances tonight.

“So we are not critical, we’re really pleased with the performance and the game plan. We asked the players to defend perfectly and that was nearly there.

“And going forward we caused them all kinds of problems, we have ran their defence ragged all over the place.

“Neil Lennon said to me coming off we were outstanding. As a manager I can’t ask more of my players.

“That’s been our best performance for a long time, certainly away from home. If we can find that consistency away from home I will be very, very pleased.

“The reality is that it’s two points dropped. But as a boss you look at the performance of the team and there were lots of positives. I don’t think Neil Lennon’s had many tests like he had tonight."

Asked about Arfield, Gerrard said: “He’s not okay, it's a hamstring. We have a few carrying knocks and we need bodies for the weekend, but we’re a bit thin.”

Hibs midfielder Mark Milligan appeared to handle a Morelos shot inside his own area in the 82nd minute, but Gerrard didn't think Rangers deserved to be awarded a penalty.

Asked if referee Craig Thomson should have awarded a spot kick, he said: “No I don’t think so. There was a bit of a lean into it, but the connection was on the shoulder, which I am told is allowed, so no.

“It would have been a soft one and unfair on Hibs so I have no complaints with that."

Gerrard admitted he was unhappy with the challenge on Rangers midfielder Lassana Coulibaly by Hibs centre half Ryan Porteous in the second-half - a foul the defender was only booked for.

“I was upset with Porteous’s tackle because he hasn’t tried to play the ball," he said The ball has gone and he’s come in high towards the knee.

“Look, he’s a young lad in Scotland and I don’t like talking about it after the game, but the reality is that the ref was three yards away and that was a very, very dangerous tackle.

“In my book, in Neil’s book in anyone’s book that was a dangerous tackle."