Steven Gerrard has told talkSPORT he is refusing to give up Rangers’ Scottish Premiership title bid and insists they will fight rivals Celtic ‘until the very end’ this season.
Old Firm rivals Celtic currently sit 13 points clear at the top of the standings with the 2019/20 campaign currently on hold due to the coronavirus crisis.
While there are ‘tentative’ plans south of the border for action to return, there remains a great deal of uncertainty over the future of the current season in Scotland.
There are growing calls for league chiefs to end the season now and crown Celtic as champions for the ninth year in a row – including from celebrity fan Sir Rod Stewart, who on talkSPORT accused ‘horrid’ Rangers of bad sportsmanship for not conceding defeat in the title race.
Ibrox legend Ally McCoist laughed at those ‘nonsense’ claims from the legendary rocker, insisting titles are not given out, they must be won.
And Gerrard has now told the station he is determined to revive their hopes when play is able to resume, revealing he doesn’t agree with the ‘almighty rush’ to can the campaign now.
Speaking on the White and Sawyer show, the Ibrox boss said: “For myself, and everyone at Rangers was on the same page, what we wanted was to give it the best chance we can.
“There was certainly a different in the view from the Premier League and the EFL that they wanted to wait and give this season every single chance to be played out.
“Listen, we all know and respect the fact there might come a stage where that is impossible to happen, we get that.
“There seems to be an almighty rush from where we were to finish it and get it done, get the boats in as soon as possible. That didn’t sit well at all.
“For me, our view hasn’t changed on it at Rangers. We want to get back playing and finish the season off when it’s physically safe to do that, because we all respect the situation that we’re in.
“There seems to be a huge difference in attitudes in the north and south.
“The Premier League have come out and said, ‘we’ll do everything we can to finish it off’. I think all the clubs and the managers, initially, were on the same page. It’s very important that you finish competitions off.
“Across Scotland, from top to bottom, there was so much football to be played.
“Of course, I’m always going to be biased because I’m Rangers manager and there’s a 13 point gap that I respect.
“But I want to continue to put as much pressure on until the end.
“In every league, so many other clubs had so much to play for and we felt there was an almighty rush to just finish it straight away rather than give it the best chance to be finished.”
Gerrard also told Rangers fans he, his staff and the club’s hierarchy have been using the lockdown to prepare their summer transfer plans.
And he has vowed to do everything in his power to improve his squad and help the Ibrox outfit challenge for honours.
“I wouldn’t be in a position to give names, but what I can say to the Rangers fans is we haven’t stopped since we’ve gone into the pandemic,” the former Liverpool captain added.
“We’ve been as busy as ever watching players in different positions, turning longlists into shortlists.
“Obviously, times are strange at the moment and we have to continue to follow the government guidelines. I think it will be small steps out of it before we get going again.
“But one thing’s for sure – I won’t stop trying to make this Rangers team as good as I can, that’s for sure.”
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