STEVEN GERRARD admits he didn’t the reaction he wanted from his Rangers players as they lost further ground in the Premiership title race at Ibrox.

The Gers are now four points adrift of Old Firm rivals Celtic in the top flight standings after being held to a 1-1 draw by Kilmarnock.

Greg Stewart cancelled out Alfredo Morelos’ opener to earn Steve Clarke’s side a share of the spoils on another frustrating night for the Light Blues.

Gerrard had demanded an improvement from his players following the draw with Spartak Moscow and defeat to Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup semi-finals.

But the 38-year-old was disappointed with the performance and the result as Killie came from behind to continue their own impressive run of Premiership form.

Gerrard said: “It was not the result or the reaction I wanted after the weekend.

“It was a six or seven out of ten and it wasn’t enough to beat a well-drilled Kilmarnock team.

“We knew the onus would be on us to provide the quality. We got the first goal which should have given us a big lift but it never.

“We continued to play slowly. It was a frustrating result and a frustrating performance.

 “I can sit here and protect them all night and take the blame. If that’s what they want then I will.

“But, they are Rangers players. They are the ones who have to go out and deliver and tonight they haven’t

“We will all take the blame together but they have to take responsibility at some point. It is a concern that it has happened a few times now.

“I know the players can play better than this. The performance wasn’t good enough. Two or three really put it in and maxed out for us but the rest weren’t at it.

“I thought it was a pretty similar performance to Sunday. Not good enough.

“I expected a better reaction. I think the fans deserved a better reaction and better performance and they never delivered it.”

Boss Gerrard made four changes to his starting line-up as Wes Foderingham, Scott Arfield, Andy Halliday and Morelos were brought back into the side.

The decision to rest keeper Allan McGregor was the biggest call that he made following a superb start to the season on his return to the club.

Foderingham was left helpless as Stewart curled home the equaliser from inside the area but denied the striker at the death to ensure Rangers didn’t suffer their first home defeat of the campaign.

And Gerrard was pleased to see the Englishman make the most of his chance between the sticks as he performed well on a rare start for the Light Blues.

He said: “Wes stopped us from actually dropping three points with a terrific save at the end. He has been outstanding in training the last two or three weeks.

“Allan has had a small problem on the right side of his back, probably not enough to keep him out but a flag, if you like, to me about his age and the amount of games we are going to play over the course of the season.

“I actually thought our reaction from Sunday would allow me to change the keeper.

“But there are no fingers to be pointed at Wes. He could have done nothing at the first goal where we didn’t defend well enough.

“We were soft, missed the header and let a left-footer come back on his strong foot. There are other people to point fingers at for that goal. Because of Wes, we didn’t lose the game at the very end.”