Rangers boss Steven Gerrard prepared for Easter Road’s ‘hostile environment’

Rangers are looking forward to a “hostile environment” at Easter Road on Friday night, according to boss Steven Gerrard.

The Ibrox side travel to Leith to face Hibs in front of the BT Sport cameras as they look to close the gap to Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership to five points.

Rangers have dropped points both times they have faced the Capital side this season, drawing twice in the space of a week in December.

Gerrard will face a new adversary in the Hibs dugout with Paul Heckingbottom having taken over from Neil Lennon but he expects three points providing his forward line are on form.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is looking forward to Easter Road. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty

He said: “I expect a tough game, a new manager coming in with his own style. Paul will have them fired up. For us it is about what we do and our focus. We go there looking for maximum points.

“Paul might tweak the system from the previous two games but we have to wait and see, our last two performances were strong, particularly at Easter Road.

“I would much rather play at a lower-level and get maximum points, performance is a bonus. We played well last time but came away with one point when we should have got three.

“We just focus on the game in a hostile environment. It is a game the players are really looking forward to. If we are clinical in the final third we should be able to take maximum points.”

Gerrard, who confirmed that influential midfielder Ryan Jack remains a doubt for the match, also had his say on speculation surrounding star man Alfredo Morelos.

The Colombian will be looking to add to his tally of 28 goals for the campaign at Easter Road.

“I’m sure the interest is flattering for Alfredo, in terms of me, nothing changes,” Gerrard said. “He puts a smile on my face as he is such a top, top player. The interest and speculation are not going to go away. I’d be more worried if people weren’t interested in our players.”

The Rangers boss also had his say on VAR, hoping to see it introduced in Scottish football.

He said: “I think VAR is only going to improve the game, hopefully, one day we can get it into Scottish Football as it will help everyone. It certainly makes sense.