Steven Gerrard 'satisfied' with Rangers win but stresses Shkupi tie is not over yet
Thursday 12 July 2018 23:07, UK
Steven Gerrard says he was satisfied with Rangers' 2-0 win over Shkupi in his first competitive game in charge but stressed that there is still "a lot of work to do" in the second leg.
Jamie Murphy's first half strike and a late James Tavernier penalty put the Ibrox side in control of the Europa League first qualifying round tie but Gerrard was frustrated that his side were unable to take their chances to win the game more emphatically.
"I think there are a lot of positives to take from the game," he told Rangers TV. "We've won it, got a clean sheet, I thought we defended really well.
"We got the second goal in the end but one concern would be that we didn't win the game a lot more comfortably and put the whole tie to bed tonight. I thought we created enough to win more convincingly so we're still in a tie, we're still in a game and there is still a lot of work to do."
Gerrard spoke of the importance of not conceding an away goal ahead of the trip to Macedonia and was pleased with the effort of his players as they continued to search for full match fitness.
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"I think the clean sheet is very important and it was nice to get a bit of relief with the second goal," added the former Liverpool midfielder.
"I don't think we can create any of the players' effort or commitment or application tonight, I thought they gave it everything and the fans stayed with them all the way through so I'm very pleased about a lot of it. The only thing is we didn't win the game more convincingly.
"We controlled a lot of it, most of it, we were a bit careless at times in a few moments but it's the first real game and people are trying to over-impress, people are a bit tense and are still searching for that full sharpness and full fitness. All in all though, yes, I'm satisfied.
"We all have to look forward to Tuesday and realise that we're still in a game, it's not over and there is still a lot of work to do."