JIMMY NICHOLL reckons Steven Gerrard can avoid making wholesale changes to his Rangers squad if he can get more out of the current crop of Light Blues.

The Northern Irishman will take charge against Hibernian tomorrow before he hands over power to Gerrard when he starts at Ibrox next month.

And the interim Gers boss believes there doesn’t need to be another clear-out this summer as Gerrard is backed in the transfer market.

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Nicholl said: “Hopefully, not a massive change. What I mean by that is that he will get something out of the existing squad.

“Yes, some of them will be gone but if he gets something out of the existing ones, he won’t need too many new players.

“I hope he doesn’t need eight or nine. I hope in the end he only needs three or four.

“He should get more out of the boys who are here. If they have anything about them, then he will do. They will respond to his demands.

“He might be younger, people might say he’s an inexperienced manager, but it doesn’t matter. If someone’s not doing it on the training pitch or on a Saturday for you, then it doesn’t matter if you’re inexperienced or not. It’s just a case of ‘away you go’.

“It’s about making hard decisions, it’s nothing to do with inexperience or experience. I was player-manager of Raith Rovers when I was 33 and dealing with older players at that time.

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“I was inexperienced but it was about making decisions, hard decisions and hopefully the right ones. Twenty or more years on, you still make the same decisions and sometimes the same mistakes.

“Steven will know that. He’ll know right away when he’s out on that training pitch what he needs.”

Gerrard will be given funds to strengthen his squad as he prepares for his first campaign in management next term.

And Nicholl reckons mentality and character will be key qualities for the Liverpool legend to look out for.

He said: “Yes, absolutely. There are no leaders at clubs. I don’t think there are many leaders at clubs unless it’s a top, top club.

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Celtic maybe only have one, Scott Brown. [Graeme] Shinnie at Aberdeen. Nobody has six, seven or eight leaders, those days are gone. In my days there were eight or nine of us used to pull two or three through, now you’re lucky if you have two or three pulling eight or nine through. Not just here, everywhere, in my opinion.

“So what has it been like for me here? Really enjoyable at the start and then you just see why we lost those games. You get to know people and you get to know their characters and their wee traits in training, how they react on a Monday and Tuesday after a defeat, how long it takes them to get going again.

“You learn all these things. If I was winning all the time it’d be great all the time. It’s how you react to a defeat and loss of form that matters.”