STEVEN GERRARD insists the result was the only thing that mattered at Ibrox as Rangers emerged victorious to stretch their Premiership lead over Celtic.

A Callum McGregor own goal proved the difference on the day as Neil Lennon's side - who had Nir Bitton sent off early in the second half - failed to make the most of their chances.

Rangers are now 19 points clear in the title race but Celtic still have three games in hand as Gerrard's side look to see it out this term.

And Gerrard knows all to well the importance of the outcome having seen his side lose the Betfred Cup final in a similar fashion last season.

Gerrard said: “It's another big three points and another three points and a clean sheet. I'm really proud of the players in terms of effort.

“First half we weren't good enough, weren't good ourselves. We were second best in a lot of areas.

“I thought it was a massive improvement in the second half. We were more aggressive and more physical. We believed in ourselves in terms of the way we were trying to play.

“Then the sending off is a big major incident in the game and it looked like there was only going to be one winner from there.

“[At half-time] I just asked them how much they wanted to win a derby.

“That was the only question they needed to be asked. DO you want to win a derby, especially here at Ibrox when we are defending our stadium and our supporters.

“You can't be passive, you can't be second best. You've got to let Celtic know they are in a game. Credit to Celtic I thought they played really well for 45 minutes.

“But listen, we were outstanding for 90 minutes in a cup final not so long ago and got nothing for it. It's the end result that matters.

“We've won the game, we've stretched our lead. We remain humble and move onto Aberdeen."