Rangers TV pundit issues Gerrard dig in ‘absolutely huge’ claim
Alan Hutton has insisted Rangers thrashing Hearts 5-0 was “absolutely huge” after the “terrible” defeat to Rangers.
The former Gers defender and Rangers TV pundit, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, admitted there had been a “drop off” in performance levels similar to those seen under Steven Gerrard.
Alfredo Morelos returned from international duty to put Hearts to the sword at Ibrox with two goals.
The win came just days after the Light Blues were beaten 3-0 by Celtic at Parkhead.
Hutton admitted there were “a lot of doubters” at Ibrox after the Gers’ indifferent form following the winter break.
Asked how important the manner of Sunday’s victory was, Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “I think it was absolutely huge. I was reading what the manager was saying after the fallout of the Celtic game.
“The performance was terrible in terms of where Rangers were before the winter break. They needed to show that they could bounce back. They are champions and they had to do it in the manner they did.
“We know Rangers can play to that level, but we haven’t seen it since the break. There were a lot of doubters out there.
“So to come out with that aggression and intent to go and score goals and then really put your foot down and get two, three and four, it shows everybody that they are still up for the challenge.
“We haven’t seen that enough. I’ve always known that they’re very capable of it but I just think there’s definitely been a drop off since the winter break.
“The nervous thing about that is we’ve seen it before under Gerrard as well. When they were doing so well and then they fell away a bit.
“There were a lot of doubters out there so it puts a lot of minds at ease especially among the support.
“They scored five goals against a very good Hearts side. I think it was important they went out and put on a really good performance. It’ll breed a little bit of confidence.”
Rangers now sit one point behind Celtic at the top of the Premiership table.
The Gers have won two of their last five league games.
In other news, pundit thrilled by one thing Rangers star kept doing against Hearts and Celtic.