Steven Gerrard still believes Rangers were a class above Aberdeen the last time the sides met – and says they are even better three months on.
Rangers were left frustrated as Dons youngster Bruce Anderson struck in stoppage time to earn Derek McInnes’ side a point on the opening day of the Ladbrokes Premiership season.
But Gerrard felt his 10-man team deserved much more after watching them recover from Alfredo Morelos’ early red card to dominate the 1-1 draw.
Now, as the sides prepare to square off again in Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final, the Rangers boss has warned Aberdeen they will be facing a team who have grown even slicker in the time since their last meeting.
He said: “The players were tremendous on that day, with 10 men. In the circumstances I thought we put in a really strong performance and I thought we were unlucky not to see the game out.
“The players handled themselves very well on the day and I’ll be looking for a similar performance from individuals.
“We know each other more. We’ve been together for four months now, we’ve played more games together, we’ve got more experience. The players know the formation and how we want it to look. They know what they have to do to win the game.
“Aberdeen finished above us in the league last year, so we’ll show them respect like we did at Pittodrie.
“I thought we were excellent on that day and deserved to win the game, especially having 10 men for 90 per cent of the game having lost arguably our best player, our most prolific player.
“The players were asked a big question that day by a strong team in a tricky environment and I was really impressed by my side. I thought they were the better team on the day and I stand by that.”
The extend of Rangers’ progress under Gerrard was illustrated by the disappointment that fell over Ibrox on Thursday when they were forced to settled for a point against Russian giants Spartak Moscow.
But Gerrard feels a repeat display will be too much for the Dons to handle.
“We’re looking for the same quality we showed against Spartak on Sunday,” he said. “We believe if we can hit those heights then hopefully that will be enough to get us to the final.
“When you sign up for Rangers, you’re signing up to try to add to that wonderful history and tradition that comes with the club and the responsibility lies on us. We accept that and we go there to give it our best.”
Morelos had his Pittodrie red card over turned on appeal but Rangers’ top scorer will be suspended for Sunday’s showdown after picking up yellow cards against Kilmarnock and Ayr earlier in the competition.
With his understudy Kyle Lafferty cup-tied, Gerrard faces a dilemma over who he picks to lead his attack.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” he said when asked if he felt he had the firepower to shoot down the Dons. “That’s the question I’m asking my squad.
“Have we got it? That’s what (the media) wants to know, that’s what I want to know. The stage is set for us to go answer that question.
“It’s very difficult to predict but we’ll have a game plan and enough quality to win the match if we max out and hit the heights we’re capable of.”
