Gerrard: We Were Ruthless And Relentless

STEVEN GERRARD was full of praise for his players after they recorded an incredible 8-0 victory over Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premiership.

Following a midweek Europa League trip to Portugal, the Light Blues showed no signs of fatigue as they produced arguably their strongest display of the season against Brian Rice's men.

Gerrard was delighted that his team were so ruthless in their approach to such an important fixture before the international break:

Speaking post-match, the manager said: "It was a really strong performance and I'm really pleased. I think we showed a right ruthless side to us today and we were relentless from start to finish.

"We knew we were going to get into the final third a lot, it was about can we find the outcomes and can we execute? We did, we found eight answers and really pleased.

"We wanted to come out the blocks quickly and there are no fans here to really lift us and motivate us. We have to do that ourselves and on the back of a European night it's about attitude and mentality, and not thinking about tiredness and not using any excuses.

"I made five changes and five subs today and the standard and the levels were really strong. I want players to get goals and I want them to get assists, but the important thing for me is the level of performance and the three points.

“I'm really pleased and congratulations to everyone who got on the scoresheet."

Man of the match James Tavernier again impressed throughout the 90 minutes with his powerful runs forward as well as his two well-taken, second-half goals, the first from the penalty spot.

The captain now has 12 goals for the season and Gerrard has been thrilled with his overall contribution to the team.

He continued: "His form has been top drawer since the first day of the season.

“We've got everyone fit at the moment which is important and they are off on international duty now and we wish them good luck, but we need them to stay healthy.

"We've tried to respect international games through the week and today we left Steven Davis out because he is fully fit. We obviously took Jacko off at half-time as we tried to show respect there.

"We've got people getting back up to speed. Kemar Roofe played angry today which I love to see because you can see he is getting close to being at his best.

South African midfielder Bongani Zungu replaced Ryan Jack at half-time to make his Gers debut, which was another positive for the gaffer to take from the 90 minutes this afternoon.

He added: "We were comfortable when he came into the game, but it was about the second-half performance. We demanded top standards at half-time all the way through and I wanted more goals.

"Bongani came on and kept us balanced behind the ball and kept it ticking over. He showed his range of passing and his aggressiveness in his profile, so he is only going to get better and better with time."

With four goals already scored at the half-time break, the second half against the Accies saw Rangers add four more as they continued to play with great intensity without dropping their high standards.

Gerrard admitted: "We have done that at times and it has annoyed me because we are not in a position or at a stage yet where we can afford to take our foot off the gas.

"I want them to be start to finish relentless and ruthless and we were today."