STEVEN GERRARD hopes victory over Ross County can transform Rangers’ fortunes ahead of their Europa League tie with Bayer Leverkusen and Old Firm clash against Celtic.
The Gers returned to winning ways as Ryan Kent’s second half strike proved enough to see off the Staggies and give Gerrard’s side a much-needed three points in the Premiership.
Leverkusen visit Ibrox on Thursday evening for the first leg of their 16 fixture before Rangers host Celtic on Sunday with only bragging rights at stake after seeing their title ambitions suffer a series of blows in recent weeks.
Victory in Dingwall is unlikely to ease the pressure on Gerrard and his players after a period of sustained criticism but the 39-year-old is determined to use the result as a platform upon which to build going forward.
Gerrard said: “There are two ways to react when you get criticism, shrink and go into your shell and hibernate and hide from it or you put your shoulders back and you take it on the chin and you look at the constructive criticism, there are always elements of it that are right and you push on and stand up for your team-mates. Ryan’s done that today and I’m pleased for him.
“In my experience as a player I have been through these phases where it’s just not going for you and from the outside there is a lot of noise and criticism towards you.
“You need a moment or a game or a period of games where you start building it back again and today is a start. The idea is to build on that. I think it’s fantastic for us that we have such a huge game to look forward to now.
“We can smile going down the road and do all our preparation for what will be a real, real tough match against Bayer.
“But we deserve this opportunity and I want the players to go and play with courage and belief, let themselves go and see where that takes us.
“I’m sure they will be [feeling better about themselves]. I think we’ve been really open, probably too open at times as a group and it’s been touch.
“We needed this today. The only medicine for a bad period of games or a poor run of form is winning and keeping clean sheets so today is a start.”
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