THE numbers tell their own story for Steven Gerrard. His words were a message as well as a warning.

Gerrard’s assessment that Rangers’ Premiership clash with Motherwell on Sunday was a 3-0 or 4-0 game was accurate on paper. On the park, of course, the reality was very different as two points were dropped courtesy of a 1-1 draw.

The champions dominated proceedings with two thirds of the possession but had to share the spoils as Kaiyne Woolery cancelled out Fashion Sakala’s opener to deny Rangers on the day that their 55th league flag was unfurled.

Of the 25 shots that Rangers attempted, just seven were enough to trouble keeper Liam Kelly. The one that beat him after 12 minutes came as Sakala reacted quickly to head home after Joe Aribo had flicked on a James Tavernier corner.

At that point in proceedings, the course of the game seemed set. As Rangers controlled large swathes of the action, it looked like only a matter of time before the second goal would come.

That moment never arrived, though. In the end, neither would the three points as Woolery capitalised on yet more appalling defending to bring Graham Alexander’s side level. 

Motherwell registered just five shots on Sunday. The strike from Woolery was their only one on target as they snatched a point and brought an end to Rangers’ 21-game winning run at Ibrox.

The frustration afterwards was clear. Gerrard knew his side should have had the match and the result wrapped up long beforehand, but a series of missed chances proved to be Rangers’ downfall once again.

A dozen competitive games into their season, Rangers only have six wins to their credit and the champions have yet to produce a performance befitting of that status. It was hard-earned, but it has not been lived up to so far.

Rangers have been patchy in matches and over the campaign as a whole and an attacking line that so much is expected of have failed to deliver.

Kemar Roofe leads the way with four goals so far this term. Alfredo Morelos has three, while Sakala opened his account against the Steelmen.

Ianis Hagi and Scott Wright have chipped in twice, but Tavernier and Aribo only have one strike to their credit, while Ryan Kent - now out of action until after the international break - has yet to register.

There were encouraging signs on Sunday as Roofe, Wright and Sakala combined well in stages, but Rangers were guilty of being too intricate at times and too slack at others and the succession of spurned chances was unsurprisingly punished.

The names and the style remain the same from last term, but Rangers are still searching for that chemistry in the final third. The responsibility is both individual and collective.

“Scott and Fashion brought speed," Gerrard said as he assessed his forward line. "There was a lot of interchanging, some of Kemar’s link up play was good.

“It’s about me finding the right balance for the right challenge.

“Obviously we need Ryan Kent back as soon as possible and back in top form. And we need to get Morelos in top form.

“Because if you look at the first eight or nine games, we haven’t got a leading goal scorer that’s jumping out or a leading assister who is jumping out. That’s what we are going to need moving forward.

“So I’m going to challenge all the boys in the final third, like I do, and hopefully we can become a bit more of a killer team. Because we are getting there on too many occasions and not rewarding ourselves which is a bit of a concern sitting here right now.

“We are in a good position but we should be in a better position. It’s my job to drive the standards here and we’ll never settle for accepting a draw at home to anyone.

“Football’s about details at the top level. Defensively, we got one or two details wrong but we might have got away with that if our final third play was better. People need to stand up and score goals for this football club.”

The aftermath of any negative result at Rangers is always going to be a painful experience and the post-mortem focused on either end of the park.

The champions were comfortable winners of the midfield battle, but the problem of their profligacy in the final third was compounded by their defensive frailties.

There was a warning early on as Jack Simpson failed to deal with a straightforward ball and Connor Goldson had to make a late block to deny Tony Watt.

And the former Bournemouth defender didn’t cover himself in glory later on as Motherwell unlocked the Rangers defence with ease and Woolery made them pay.

Such issues must be addressed as a matter of urgency and Rangers have to give themselves the platform in matches that they earned so often last term.

Ultimately, though, one mistake shouldn’t have come at such a cost. It wouldn’t have done had Rangers shown a ruthlessness in front of goal.

Gerrard said: “I think Jack did a lot of good things. We had one moment when Liam Kelly’s gone long and direct in the first half, which led to Tony Watt being in on goal, so we’ll have to look at that.

“We had two bad moments - one in the first half and one in the second half, obviously, which leads to their goal.

“For me, though, that was a 3-0 or 4-0 game if we showed more quality in the final third. I don’t think it was really anything to do with how we defended.

“A lot of teams are going to set up to block the middle of the pitch and force us wide. Motherwell were blocking crosses from Tav and Borna.

“We’ve had to improve and evolve, passing and running, being more spiteful passing inside the pitch. Trying to be more aggressive in our team selection.

“We had three really attacking players in Scott, Fashion and Kemar. We had Joe Aribo in there as well.

“We got there, we got down the side of the box, we got into the six yard box. That’s where the frustration is, that we haven’t rewarded ourselves for all our good play.”

Rangers know well what those rewards are and the fact that the flag now flies above Ibrox is proof of how good this side can be on their day.

Those heights have not been hit yet this season. If further glories are to come in the future, the mistakes of the past cannot haunt them once again.