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Rangers news: Steven Gerrard knows the task facing him after Celtic loss - Petrov
RANGERS manager Steven Gerrard knows how far away his side are from Celtic following last week’s Old Firm loss.
Rangers: Steven Gerrard 'disappointed' after loss to Celtic
That’s the view of former Celtic star Stiliyan Petrov who himself scored four goals in Old Firm matches.
Celtic were largely comfortable despite the 1-0 scoreline with Olivier Ntcham netting the only goal of the game.
It means Rangers have won just one of their opening four SPFL games and sit seven points behind leaders Hearts.
Gerrard is in his first managerial job at Ibrox and has led the Gers to the Europa League group stage.
But he’s struggling in the league and Petrov believes Gerrard will now know exactly how big the job he is facing.
“Now Steven will know how far they are from Celtic,” said Petrov.
“He will assess the situation, how far they are still away from Celtic.
“My old club got the perfect result and performance and they showed they can play like the champions.
"It will take some performance to beat them. I think the fans have now calmed down after an intense couple of weeks when they did not make the Champions League
"But you know what, they have made the Europa League and beat their rivals Rangers and Parkhead is bouncing again."
Gerrard had led Rangers on a 12-match unbeaten run prior to last Sunday’s defeat to their fierce rivals.
And Kyle Lafferty, who returned to Rangers over the summer, has been left impressed by the start the Liverpool legend has made.
"Steven's pretty impressive to be honest," Lafferty told Northern Irish radio station Cool FM.
"He's a young manager and the first two weeks, from what I've seen so far, he's going to be the next big thing.
"The way he speaks and puts things across to the squad it is impressive.
"For any young manager looking to go into coaching or managing you just need to look at him.
"In the press, no matter who is asking him questions on what's put in front of him, he's coming across really well. And his training is tough.
"He was one of those players whatever way he trained on the park he took it into games and he is trying to get that across to the lads.
"Training is really good and it's going to be good times for Rangers."