STEVEN GERRARD has given captain James Tavernier his full backing after his recent costly high profile mistakes but insists that nobody is undroppable from his Rangers side.
Tavernier has come in for criticism from supporters following errors in the defeat to Young Boys and draw against Hearts over the last month.
And boss Gerrard has held a heart-to-heart with his skipper ahead of the Europa League clash with Porto this evening.
READ MORE: Porto represent Rangers' biggest Europa League test yet
Gerrard said: “James is well aware that he is in the firing line and I have had a couple of chats with James since the weekend.
“I am going to back him, of course I am. I believe he has got the character and the ability to bounce back and put in a performance. In my chat with him, I asked him to reset and do the basics as well as he can and really get his focus back.
“I am sure if he does that he will be totally fine. I have got no doubts at all as far as James as concerned. But he is aware of being in the firing line, that is life at a big club.
“If you make a couple of errors in a short space of time then you are in the firing line.
“But what he doesn’t need is people who he trusts and the people around him to doubt him because that would be a mistake.
“Nobody is undroppable, but at the same time I am not going to be the type of manager who, when a player makes a couple of mistakes, I stick them in the bin and forget all about them.
READ MORE: Should Rangers manager Steven Gerrard drop James Tavernier?
“James has got enough in the bank with me and the team and the club and the supporters to know that he will bounce back. I have got no doubt about it and he can go and perform incredibly well.
“That is the belief that I have got in him. It is life in football and if you make a couple of mistakes you are in the firing line. He has to deal with that pressure and we will do our best to help him.”
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