Steven Gerrard shares how Steven Davis is surprising him

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Rangers take on Motherwell at Ibrox this afternoon.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has told The Scottish Sun of how impressed he has been with midfielder Steven Davis – but has been surprised by his robustness.

The Gers moved into the market in January of this year to bolster Gerrard’s midfield, landing two players as Glen Kamara and Davis both arrived.

They’re at different stages of their career; Kamara young up-and-comer, Davis a wily veteran. Initially, Davis struggled to hit top form after re-joining the club from Southampton.

The 34-year-old just wasn’t the player that fans remembered from his first spell at Ibrox, from 2008 to 2012. Some feared he was a little too long in the tooth – but he’s proven himself all over again.

Now somewhat remodelled from that first spell, Davis has been a key component of the Rangers midfield, and has justified Gerrard’s decision to make his loan move permanent over the summer.

The Northern Ireland midfielder has made 17 appearances this season, and has been a mainstay of the Europa League group stage campaign so far, with Gerrard utilising his experience in the middle of the park.

Now, Gerrard has admitted that whilst he spoke to many people about his character, he has been surprised by how robust and available he has been at the age of 34.

Gerrard noted that Davis needed game time when he first joined the club, but is now in ‘terrific’ form after an honest conversation about pushing himself more to be a real asset to this Rangers side.

“I’d watched him for over a decade and spoke to many people about his character. He’s the total, ultimate professional,” said Gerrard. “I had no doubts he could come here and do well but he’s surprised me in terms of how robust he is, how available he’s been. At first he came and wasn’t match fit. It was similar to Jermain Defoe, where you’ve missed so much football you haven’t really got that match sharpness. You feel a yard off and you look a yard off.”

“He knew himself he needed more game time and needed to push himself. We had to have that honest conversation but we had no doubts we could get him to where he was. That was the reason why we acted so quickly to get him in, and we always knew it was going to follow on into this season as well. With games and hard work and pushing himself, he’s now in terrific form,” he added.