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STEVEN GERRARD praised a ‘starving’ Ryan Kent after his virtuous display devoured Willem II as Rangers reached the Europa League play-off round.
Kent was involved in three goals as Rangers edged out the Dutch team in Tilburg to prepare for a life or death clash with Galatasaray at Ibrox next week.
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The clinical performance in the Netherlands moved Gerrard’s men within 90 minutes of reaching the group stage for the third consecutive season.
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Goals from James Tavernier, his 50th with the club, Ryan Kent, Filip Helander and Connor Goldson facilitated the pass.
Gerrard said: “From an attack point of view, I think Ryan was the game changer for us tonight.
“He does incredibly well running behind and has added it to his game this season. “We feel sorry for progress and it is a constant threat. He’s so sharp and has added a different dimension to his game.
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“It’s a pleasure to watch and train him and we just have to enjoy it.
“He is hungry and eager and is putting the application to improve his numbers.
“As a coach and manager and staff group, that’s part of his development and we’ve seen it in him.
“The good thing is that the player is hungry to put big numbers in his game and he is aware of that. Doing so certainly makes us that much more dangerous as a team.
“He knows that he is a great player for the club and he knows that all the fans are behind him. He knows that when he gives the best of himself and his A Game, that gives us a much better chance of winning.
“That goes through the park and I think they all came tonight. Allan McGregor was outstanding in goal. “
Gerrard was delighted with the result in the Netherlands but insists that the Turkish giants will be the favorites to qualify in Glasgow next week.
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The Gers boss said: “There is still a lot of work to do to achieve that and we still have a huge hurdle to overcome.
“It is a game that we are waiting for and we will commit ourselves and apply the best we can to try to obtain the best result.
“But we can’t think about that achievement until we go and do a performance. If we do a performance, it will give us a fighting chance.
“Listen, we will certainly gain confidence from tonight and build on our results from the last few years.
“But let’s get it right, Galatasaray is a great club, a huge team and they will certainly come to Ibrox as favorites for sure.
“It’s very frustrating, obviously, not having our house full and that environment behind us that would give us some kind of advantage.
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“But I think it will be a very tough game without that. The players deserve the opportunity and we will give it everything we have.
“We have a tough game before that at Motherwell that we have to go and win and then we certainly look forward to next week.”
Gerrard still feels there is room for improvement despite the convincing victory.
He added: “I’m not sure comfortable is the right word, but I’m very happy with the score and with winning 4-0 and getting a clean sheet.
“Four different scorers, three from set pieces and one in open play, so obviously we are very happy.
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“But we beat a good team, it was dangerous and it caused us some problems in the first half. It could easily have been a different marker at half time.
“I didn’t think our defensive organization was very good in the first half, but we managed to fix it at half-time and we were much better, much more solid in the second half. Thanks to the guys, it’s a fantastic victory outside of a tough and difficult game for us. “
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