MX23RW : Friday, December 13 23:01:13| >> :120:24845:24845:

Jermain Defoe: 'Rangers will not give up on title'

Jermain Defoe: 'Rangers will not give up on title'
© Reuters
Rangers trail Celtic by five points with a game in hand.

Jermain Defoe declared Rangers will fight to the end as they look to get their title bid back on track.

Steven Gerrard's team have handed the initiative back to Celtic after slumping to a 2-1 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle.

They still have a game in hand on their bitter Old Firm rivals but now sit five points back on Neil Lennon's champions.

Ibrox boss Gerrard has already warned his players any repeat of their abject Gorgie showing will kill their title aspirations stone dead.

But veteran frontman Defoe believes his side are ready to battle their way back into contention.

"That is all you can do to be honest," he said. "You can't lay down and die and you need to show character. That is football.

"It is a lot of pressure but at the end of the day it is good pressure because you are playing for a club like this and there is a demand to win games.

"You have to achieve things and titles and trophies. It is a lot of pressure but, at the same time, I feel that we are good enough and strong enough to handle that kind of pressure.

"Of course it is a setback today but all we can do is continue to do what we have done.

"We can't forget about the result today, of course, or the performance because it has got to hurt and it is hurting.

"Everyone is hurting, everyone involved, and it has to because you don't want to feel that pain again, you don't want that atmosphere in the changing room again.

"Up until this point we have done so well. We feel like we have let ourselves down to be honest."

ID:387645: cacheID:387645:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3054:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard pictured in November 2019
Read Next:
Five things we learned from this weekend's Ladbrokes Premiership games
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Rams
12-6
49ers
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic1514104444043
2Aberdeen16104230181234
3RangersRangers1510232791832
4Dundee UnitedDundee Utd156632215724
5Motherwell157171823-522
6Dundee165472729-219
7St Mirren165381926-718
8Ross County163671230-1815
9St Johnstone1642101829-1114
10Kilmarnock163581734-1714
11Hearts163491825-713
12Hibernian162681828-1012


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!