Steven Gerrard returns to Rangers default setting amid rising Ettifaq pressure as he fires off familiar Ibrox excuse

Struggling Steven Gerrard has borrowed from his Rangers playbook with a familiar feel to his explanation for his struggles at Al-Ettifaq.

His venture into the Saudi Pro League appears to be quickly turning sour after his side suffered their second successive defeat – this time to Al-Riyadh – in front of a crowd of just 696 despite boasting a team packed with talent. Scotland and former Celtic defender Jack Hendry featured in the slog alongside former Liverpool stars Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum as well as Demarai Gray.

And following the full-time whistle in the Middle East, the Liverpool legend leaned on some excuses that will have seemed like a throwback for the Rangers fans - as he put the blame on his players for some costly mistakes during the 1-0 loss. He said: "It is not the first time that individual mistakes have cost us. Today we gave the three points to the opponent because of these mistakes.

"We did not have the quality in finishing and exploiting the opportunities. We were not at the level we expected, and congratulations to the competitor. Their plan was to defend and exploit mistakes."

Gerrard would regularly turn to "individual mistakes" as he played the blame game during his time in the Scottish Premiership - but reached boiling after a Europa League defeat to Young Boys where he rhymed off a long list of costly errors. He said during the 2019 rant: "It stings right now because obviously it's still very raw and we're disappointed we haven't taken something from the game. I thought we at least deserved a point.

"But when you analyse, you go back and if you think about us as a team and you look at the last games we've lost – so you go back to the Old Firm (last season), an individual error