Defiant Steven Gerrard activates attack mode as Rangers hero bigs himself up, rues referee and meets fury head on

Under-fire Steven Gerrard has warned a swelling section of doubters he shouldn't be booted out of toiling Al-Ettifaq and told his critics he will save the day.

The former Rangers boss is engulfed in a desert storm amid a seven-game winless run. Friday night's emphatic 3-1 Saudi Pro League defeat to Al-Hilal sees them a whopping 17 points behind the champions after only 10 games. Gerrard cannot escape growing anger about his role in Ettifaq's struggles with leading pundits calling him out and irate fans whistling for his dismissal.

But Gerrard is adamant he can arrest the fortunes of a side who are in the bottom half of the table but have designs of mixing it with the league's best. The Liverpool icon stressed he doesn't think the barren run should see him axed as he came out swinging. The 43-year-old also refused to yield when he spoke about referee Urs Schnyder's role against the league's top team. He said: "We are not happy with the result, but I am proud of the performance of the players, despite the harshness of the referee's decisions, especially Al Hilal's first and third goals.

"I don't want to use excuses, but we face a lot of pressure in the matches. We have to take responsibility and continue to correct the mistakes. I know that the team's recent results are not good, but I do not think that I have reached the stage of dismissal. Once some of the injured players return, we can improve our position. We have problems in the defensive and offensive aspects, and we must all unite to solve them."

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