STEVEN GERRARD is confident Alfredo Morelos won't overstep the mark in his Europa League battle with Pepe and rule himself out of the crucial Porto clash at Ibrox.

The Light Blues have made the trip to the Estádio do Dragão with one win and one defeat from their Group G clashes with Feyenoord and Young Boys and Morelos has been booked in both fixtures.

Another yellow card this evening would incur a suspension for the return clash in a fortnight and the Colombian faces a tough test against Champions League and European Championship winner Pepe as the Portuguese lines up at the heart of the Porto defence.

Gerrard said: "It is two top players that like to play the game with a lot of emotion so it will be interesting and fascinating, if he is selected!

"Yeah, it will be an interesting one and Buff will be well aware that he needs to channel his aggression in the right manner.

"Hopefully we can come through without the situation where we miss home for the home game. I look at where we are now in the group and obviously we are coming over here to try and take something from the game. But I think our two home games could be key."

The tussle with Pepe could be an intriguing one if Morelos leads the line for the Gers and looks to fire Gerrard's side to a huge Group G win.

The 36-year-old is no stranger to the dark arts in the game but Gerrard won't use Morelos, so often a target for opposition teams, to try and get at the Portuguese stopper.

He said: "No, we don’t go out to necessarily wind anyone up. We focus on our players and our job and focus on doing everything we can in a positive way.

"We don’t want to lose focus by trying to get someone booked or sent off. I don’t think that is the right way to go about it."

Morelos netted his 15th goal of an impressive campaign against Hearts on Sunday as Rangers dropped two crucial Premiership points.

The 23-year-old was allegedly subjected to racist abuse from the home crowd at Tynecastle and an investigation has been launched by the Jambos board and Police Scotland.

Gerrard said: "We haven’t had the chat. Alfredo is fine. He seems happy.

"My door is always open to any player to speak about any subject but I am not the type who will search for it.

"Alfredo was fine on the bus after the game and I’ve spoken to him on other things and left it to him if he wants to have the chat. He hasn’t mentioned it to me but my door is always open."