Rangers boss Steven Gerrard brushes off '˜tiny man' jibe

Croatian midfielder Robert Mudrazija had strong words for the Rangers manager and his team prior to the crucial second qualifying round second-leg fixture at Ibrox.

An Alfredo Morelos header gave Rangers a 1-0 win in the City Garden Stadium last week.

A strong Allan McGregor performance between the sticks led to Mudrazija's stinging rebuke in which he called Gerrard a "tiny man" and said Osijek were “better, stronger, more skilful and better organised”.

At half-time of the match assistant manager Gary McAllister clashed with opposition coach Zoran Zekic.

Yet Gerrard played down any animosity.

“Reading between the lines I think the opposition are very confident,” he said. “I don’t think they have had many positive words to say about us. But we can’t control what they say and how they are feeling about the position they are in. My focus is on how the squad feels going into tomorrow.

“Does their comments give us extra motivation? Not really. My job is to prepare my team and my players.

“We will always respectful to opponents both individually and collectively here at Rangers and we will go do what we’re capable of doing. We can’t control what comes out of opposition camps.”

The Liverpool legend has called on his players to rise to the occasion at a packed out Ibrox.

“We’re confident, we can’t wait for the game,” Gerrard enthused. “We’re looking forward to a special atmosphere.

“The stage is set for us to go play how we are capable of playing. I made it very clear to the players at the weekend what Ibrox wants to see from us in possession and out of possession. The players will know the game plan and now they need to go and deliver.

“They need to forget what happened in the first leg - this game will be totally different. They need to forget about the scoreline and thinking they have an advantage, because they need to go toe-to-toe with this opposition. If we do and play to our level, I’m very confident we’ll get the right result.”