THE sense of injustice that Steven Gerrard felt last month when the SPFL awarded Celtic the Premiership title and denied Rangers the opportunity to launch a late charge still lingers. 

“Our opinion hasn't really changed,” said Gerrard yesterday when he was asked about the decision to curtail the 2019/20 season prematurely and declare final places on a points per game basis. “We still believe it would have been possible to finish the league.”

Yet, the Ibrox manager knows there is, regardless of how aggrieved he might be, little point in dwelling on the events of the past few months with so many tests, both domestically and in Europe, lying ahead.

“We have to take it on the chin, move on and look forward,” he said. “That is all that we can do. In terms of the league I said my piece at the time and I don’t think I need to add anything. We are approaching a new season and I want to look forward rather than backwards.

“The league decision making is something I can’t control. I just want to focus on Rangers. You come into a new season with a fresh start. The past is the past, you move on and you focus on the challenges you’re facing in the coming days, weeks and months.”

There will be no shortage of them. The new league season promises to be even more fraught than normal for Rangers with Celtic bidding to become the first side in Scottish football to win 10 consecutive titles. But Gerrard is certainly up for trying to stop their city rivals making history and is confident his players are as well. 

“We have obviously got to try and do everything in our power to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said. “The season didn’t end the way the players and me wanted it to, of course it didn’t. I’m sure that they are like me and will have dusted themselves down and be ready to go again. That’s what football’s about.

“We’ve got to prepare for a long season. We need to make sure this squad of players gets some help recruitment-wise to make sure we’re in the best possible shape individually and collectively to go again.

“The players didn’t want the season to finish they wanted it to continue to finish it off. That was taken away from us so we have to look forward and be ready to play when the games come.”    

The former Liverpool and England midfielder has watched the Premier League down south resume behind closed doors this month. He knows that playing Premiership games without supporters will lack the same intensity. But he feels it is preferable to not playing at all. 

Asked about the prospect of playing an Old Firm match without a crowd in attendance, he said: “It wouldn’t be the same, like the Merseyside derby wasn’t. I think, though, everybody understands we all have to accept it. The positive thing is we all miss football that much and wanted it back to watch and be involved. I think we have to accept and adapt to that. 

“I don’t think any Merseyside derby or the Old Firm derby should be behind closed-doors. The reason they are watched worldwide is because of the fans and the atmosphere, the passion and the intensity of the fixture. An Old Firm behind closed-doors wouldn’t be the same in my opinion but if we are told we have to do that and accept that.”

Rangers will play the second leg of their Europa League last 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen – who lead 3-1 from the first leg back in March - in Germany in early August and will then face one-off qualifiers for next season’s competition. But the Glasgow club are still awaiting clarification on a number of other points. 

“I think there are advantages and disadvantages to the qualifiers in the new campaign,” said Gerrard. “Obviously, there are less games for the season as a whole, which could be helpful to the players.

“But, depending on the draw, it could add complications if you have a tough tie away from home and the advantage is with the home team. That might be a different challenge we are not used to facing.

“In terms of Leverkusen, the second leg is a game we are really looking forward to. We are still asking questions in terms of where it is going to be played, the exact date and time. We are still asking questions in terms of who we can name - the exact same players we had on the list for the first leg or if there are any special changes to the rules.”

The Rangers players may have returned to pre-season training of sorts – government social distancing guidelines are still being observed - at Auchenhowie last week. 

But, with little over a month until the start of the new campaign, they are some far from back in the old routine due to the coronavirus pandemic and Gerrard and his staff are working tirelessly to get them in shape.

“We need to get back to full contact training as quickly as we can,” he said. “We will fully prepare the players for hopefully a 60 game season. If we continue to go non-contact for a month longer I think it could have an effect on having the players fully prepared for the beginning of August.

“We have been training in small groups. Obviously we have been taking the rules into consideration. It is not ideal, I’ll be honest. But we have been in lockdown for a long time so it is very important players get moving. It’s important we see each other from a mental point of view, to get out of the house and spend time with each other.

“It’s better than it was, but the sooner we can get back to normality the better because with the season being just over a month away we need a certain amount of time to prepare the players in 11 v 11 situations and full contact. Hopefully we can get back to where we need to be.

“We have to spend an awful lot more time on the training pitch. Because we are training in small groups we are doing three or four training sessions a day, which isn’t ideal . But we totally understand the situation. It’s unique, we’ve had to adapt. But hopefully in the coming days we get some news that we can get closer to where we need to get to.”