Gerrard: 'Rangers have no excuse not to beat FK Shkupi'

His side won 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa League first-round qualifying match against the Macedonian side, but Gerrard is keen to avoid complacency among his squad as they head in to the second leg.

The Scottish club are the clear favourites to get through to the next round, but their game will not be without difficulties as they may have to play in temperatures reaching almost 30 degrees celsius.

Gerrard does not think that the heat will be an excuse for the club, and is keen to instill and winning mentality in to the squad as he possessed throughout his playing career.

"All of those excuses are the ones that players find easily and they are not the type of players I want here or around a club the size of this" the former Liverpool captain said.

While it seems unlikely that his team will fail against such unknown oppostion, it was only last year that the club exited the competition at this stage against Luxembourg outfit Progres Nierderkorn, causing much embarrassment for all involved at Ibrox.

To avoid such a result happening again, Gerrard is being tough with his players and letting them know what he expects from them, explaining that "The players have been made well aware of the pitfalls if they think they can bowl in here and be complacent and play at 80 per cent. It is not going to be the case."

Since taking up the role in May, the ex-England midfielder has tried to reinvigorate the squad by making a number of signings such as Jon Flanagan, Alan McGregor and Umar Sadiq. 

Defence has been a key area in which the manager has tried to strengthen, but one of his primary targets has been difficult to acquire. The club have had two offers rejected for Millwall centre-back Jake Cooper, but remain hopefull that a deal can be done to bring in the tenth new player of the transfer window.