Morelos has endured a difficult season in front of goal
Steven Gerrard has backed Alfredo Morelos to recapture his goalscoring form.
The Rangers striker has endured a difficult campaign in front of goal, and missed a series of chances on Sunday as his side earned a 2-1 win over Dundee United at Tannadice.
Morelos had appeared to be on the verge of a move to Ligue 1 side Lille in the summer, with his record of 77 goals in 138 games reportedly drawing interest from the likes of Atletico Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and Milan.
The goals have dried up somewhat for the 24-year-old so far this season. While he’s found the net four times in eight Europa League appearances, the Colombian has scored just three goals in 12 Premiership matches.
With Rangers comfortably ahead at the top of the table despite their star striker’s lack of consistency in front of goal, Morelos’ importance to the team has become less significant.
Manager Gerrard, however, insists the player is capable of returning to his former prolific ways.
As quoted by Radio Clyde, Gerrard said: “Listen, we want to rely on Alfredo all the time. That’s his job.
“Alfredo has to handle that pressure. I have to handle that pressure, we all do. We’re all representing Rangers.
“It’s quite normal for players to have dips in confidence or form. But what you do know is that it’s only temporary and we know he’ll bounce back. It won’t be too long before he’s scoring lots of goals and smiling even more than he is now.
“But I think one important thing to mention is that he’s still doing a fantastic job for the team in terms of his hold-up play and the messages we’re giving him, what he needs to do in and out of possession.
“So just because people on the outside don’t see the goals raining in, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have the same feelings towards Alfredo.
“We’ve been really proud of what he’s given this season. He’s got a lot more team-mates who are capable of helping him in terms of the volume of goals that the team needs.
“We’ll do everything we can to support him and get him back to where we all need him.
“We don’t just analyse the goal return. We analyse how is Alfredo looking from a fitness point of view? What’s his application like in training? Does he deserve to start? What’s his hold-up play like?
“Is he doing the job for the team? is he counter-pressing? What’s his movement like? How is he around the place?
“We analyse lots and lots of different areas before we make a decision on whether he should be in the team.
“I don’t think it’s fair to only judge a player on goal return. There’s a lot more to it than that.”
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