Steven Davis: Northern Ireland star impresses Rangers boss Steven Gerrard in win over Hearts

Davis has been biding his time since returing to Rangers and seemed to take his opportunity against Hearts.“Steven looks 100% fit now and match-sharp. For me he looked a different player tonight – he looked good against Kilmarnock before the International break.

“I’ve followed his games for Northern Ireland and he played really well and he went up another notch tonight.

“He should get a lot of confidence from tonight’s performance. I was very pleased for him.

“If you look at both Steven and Jermain (Defoe) tonight – that’s why I wanted them both in during the January transfer window.

“Jermain has done well and scored some goals – Steven has taken a little more time, but what impressed me most was his physical condition.

“His work all around the pitch, covering, intercepting, his passing ability and has vision in the game. He looks like he’s in top condition now which is great to see and hopefully he can continue that now until the end of the season.”

The win was a most welcome one for the Ibrox Boss following the disappointment of Sunday’s ‘Old Firm’ defeat.

“There’s been a lot of frustration in the air in the last couple of days. Teams find it hard to live with us when we open with that intensity and that energy.

“Moving forward, we need to find that level on a more consistent basis,” he added.

“Certainly, the first-half was the kind of performance I was looking for. I thought we played really well in the first 35 minutes – the players deserve credit. We passed the ball well, we moved well, we looked dangerous and deserved to be 2-0 ahead at half-time.

“I expected us to be a bit tired and a bit sloppy late on after the shift we put in at the weekend with ten men but in the main it was a positive result and a clean sheet.

“We made a quick start and that’s what we’ve tried to do all season and have done on a number of occasions. There’s been times when we’ve been slow out the blocks and haven’t found our rhythm early on and as a result have found it difficult to break teams down.”

Gerrard also had praise for Defoe, who opened the scoring in the sixteenth minute.

“I’m happy with Jermain – he’s been a top professional, he’s been immaculate around the place. When he’s come on as a substitute, he’s given everything he has. He wants more – he wants to play more often but he’ll get a run in the team now and if he continues to play well and score goals then I’ll have a decision to make in three games time.”