Rangers kicked off their Europa League campaign with a 1-0 win over Eredivisie side Feyenoord at Ibrox on Thursday night.
Sheyi Ojo’s cracker of a goal in the 24th minute made all the difference, but the Scottish Premiership giants should have found themselves ahead 14 minutes earlier.
Rangers were awarded a penalty after Feyenoord defender Edgar Ie handed the ball inside the box, and James Tavernier stepped up to take the kick.
However, the Light Blues skipper could only hit the upright after firing wide.
Despite the huge miss, Rangers proved their quality in the end, putting in an impressive shift across both ends of the pitch.
“These things happen. James has scored big penalties for this team before and provided big moments for the team. I’ve just said to him ‘you can’t let a penalty miss affect you, especially if you miss it early on.’,” Gerrard told The Scottish Sun.
“There are so many important moments left to play and he has played his part in a fantastic clean sheet against a good team, that’s how I’ll judge him. I won’t judge him on the penalty miss. Of course, it would have helped the team and given us a bit more of a margin.
“But we missed another dozen half chances, so we can’t just look to the penalty miss. Penalties are tough, he has stood up there and took them in key moments. There will be no finger-pointing, I’m delighted with the way James is at the moment.”
Allan McGregor was on hand to deny the visitors on a number of occasions with crucial saves, and Rangers will fancy their chances of progressing to the last-32.
Group G also consists of FC Porto and Young Boys, and given how they performed against the Dutch giants, the Light Blues have shown they have what it takes to impress and go far in the competition this season.
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