Killie were resolute in defence, but Gers had many opportunities both before and after Alfredo Morelos’ 65th-minute winner to make it a more comfortable afternoon for themselves.
Speaking to RangersTV at full-time on this Boxing Day, Gerrard explained: “Sometimes teams are going to come here and be really stubborn and resolute and defend well, and Killie have previous for coming here and stealing points away from us.
“But I am pleased with the players that we never got frustrated and we never panicked and we continued to be patient.
“There was certainly an improvement second half to go and get more shots off and get more crosses to try and force the win. Eventually we got there. We should have won the game more comfortably as we had some really interesting situations in the last 10-15 minutes to go and kill the game off, but unfortunately people made the wrong decisions at the time.”
Gerrard was pleased with how his side overcame Killie’s defence this afternoon – and reckons it’s exactly the sort of game they wouldn’t have won last season.
The manager continued: “They blocked the middle of the pitch, and when that happens, you have got to find the answers on the sides or over it, and we continued to put a lot of crosses into the box.
“I wanted it to be a little bit earlier in the first half so they couldn’t get set and in position and also could we find that little bit more quality – we couldn’t, so at half-time, we told the players to continue asking questions and we had to tweak the system and the personnel and eventually we got there.
Morelos made it 28 for the season with his winner this afternoon after climbing off the bench – with Gerrard believing the XI who played so well at Hibernian on Friday deserved the chance to play again.
He said: “There are another 10 or 12 who are disappointed not to start, but I have to respect and remember what the previous 11 did at Hibs – they were superb.
“It is very difficult to take people out of the side if they score and play well, and that is the same for Alfredo.
“If he plays, scores and does well, then normally he stays in the team – but it is a squad game and over 60 games, we are going to need everyone.
“But in terms of Alfredo’s numbers, again, it’s fantastic and I am sure he is going to continue to get more goals.
“We were super-happy three days ago. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go and get goals two, three and four to entertain but it doesn’t matter – this is a business and we need points.”
It’s on now to the Old Firm derby at Parkhead on Sunday, and Gerrard added: “We’ll get the players recovered and in the best shape and we go there with a game-plan – we played against Celtic a few weeks ago and we were excellent.
“We dominated the majority of the game, but unfortunately, the big moments on the day didn’t go our way.
“Hopefully we can find the same level of performance but, hopefully the big calls and the big moments go our way for a change.”