Rangers manager Steven Gerrard excited at prospect of landing club's 55th league title

Steven Gerrard insists he is not bothered when Rangers win the Scottish Premiership as they close in on ending the club’s decade-long wait for a 55th league title.

A win for Rangers against St Mirren at Ibrox on Saturday, coupled with Celtic failing to beat Dundee United on Sunday, would see the Ibrox side win the league before they travel to Parkhead for the latest Old Firm meeting on March 21.

Gerrard, who is in his third season at the helm, is in the midst of overseeing an unbeaten league campaign and says he understands the excitement within the Rangers faithful at ending their rivals’ reign of dominance.

“Fans are entitled to think what they want. People will want it to happen for their own satisfaction,” said Gerrard, who was named SPFL manager of the month for February on Friday.

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“For me it’s about becoming champions as quick as we can in any way we can do that.

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“The important thing as a group is to just keeping winning football matches and it will happen when it happens.

“I totally respect that some fans might want to win it this way or that way – but I don’t think anyone will complain when we get this over the line.

“The important thing is to get that trophy back, get 55, knock all the 54s off the walls – that’s the main thing for me, adding to the wonderful history of this club.

“If it happens on Sunday in April or May, I don’t care so long as it happens.”

Gerrard has urged fans to abide by Covid-19 rules as they prepare to celebrate the imminent league success after a group of Rangers supporters gathered outside the Tony Macaroni Arena to set off a firework display during Wednesday’s win at Livingston.

“We all have to continue to try and abide by the rules and respect social distancing.

“I know a lot of rumours are going about but my job is to focus on the game and try and get three points. People have to understand the situation our fans are in and what they’ve been through and the priority is that they stay safe.

“The fans are the priority here and we totally understand and we can certainly relate to how they’re feeling at the moment.

“We know there’s a real excitement and rightly so. We want them to really enjoy this time and really revel in the moment.

“The fireworks display was impressive, for sure, and I got a bit of a fright. It went on for some time – and some of my players were dodging them when they landed on the pitch.

“So we would say try and keep them away from the pitch so we can focus on the job we’re trying to do.

“But we totally understand the excitement levels and it’s fantastic what’s happening at the moment – and we need to enjoy every single day.

“The important thing for us is to stay focused and try and get over the line as quick as we can. We’ve got an opportunity to make this 99.9 per cent done and that’s what we want to do.”

Gerrard also reflected on the progress his side have made since they lost to Hamilton exactly a year ago.

“Losing to Hamilton in the manner we did wasn’t a good day or good time and it’s not a game we’re proud of at all, but what we’ve done over the last 12 months has been super-impressive and the players deserve all the credit for that,” he said.

“Football is a funny game and can change at any given moment – and that’s what happened from that day.”

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