STEVEN Gerrard has compared Alfredo Morelos to a “kid in the playground” and admitted he loved the Rangers striker’s reaction when he was substituted against Ross County on Wednesday night.

Morelos, who had scored twice and was looking to complete a hat-trick, was visibly annoyed when he was replaced in Jermain Defoe in the second-half in Dingwall.

But Gerrard, who was keen to keep the Colombian fresh ahead of the Betfred Cup semi-final against Hearts at Hampden this afternoon, had no problems with his response.

And Gerrard stressed he will, with the Ibrox club still involved in the Europa League as well as three domestic competitions, have no qualms rotating his squad if he feels players need a rest.

"All players need to be managed different,” he said. “The key to that is communication. You see Alfredo's reaction, I know that will never change and I expected that. I love that reaction because he just wants to play every minute of every game. He's like a big kid in the playground when he's out there training.

"We've all been there, but with age and maturity Alfredo will know that for him to stay at top form and be protected and for us to get the best out of him, he needs to be looked after at certain times. Add to that, the fact I've another magnificent forward I need to keep happy as well.

"The biggest challenge for the players is understanding that (squad rotation) and educating yourself on it. I didn't like it. Certainly early on, I saw it as being dropped or the manager wasn't having me, but with age and experience of the schedule and the amount of games you soon come round to the fact that you need your manager to offload you at certain times.

“If you are talking about form and being at the top of your game, it's very difficult to ask a player to go right through the card playing every minute of every game, unless you are blessed with a very robust body that recovers very well. Some people are slightly different they need the constant of churning it out.”