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Steven Gerrard admitted Rangers"couldn't handle the pressure" as they fell 10 points behind in the title race.

The Gers took the lead against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, but collapsed in the second half to lose 2-1.

That leaves them trailing Celtic by 10 points, albeit with a game in hand, and their manager accused his players of lacking the mentality to fight for the title.

Gerrard told BT Sport: "I'm very disappointed at the moment but I'm responsible for it.

(Image: PA)

"It's me who has put this squad together.

"The board have given me incredible backing to go and put this squad together, I've got a lot of belief and faith in these players, but that second half performance tonight alarmed me - and it's not the first time since we've returned from the winter break.

"I'm going to have to try and solve a few problems we've got at the moment.

"We couldn't handle the pressure in the second half.

"We've done well in the first half and got ourselves in a really nice position, controlling a lot of the play and looking like a Rangers team - looking like we did for the majority of the first six months.

"But the second half we didn't go out like a team in the position we're in, which is trying to sustain a title push.

"We didn't look like that second half, we looked all over the place.

"We couldn't handle a simple long ball, my leaders in the team couldn't clear our box on a simple cross.

"So we've got some issues at the moment but I'm responsible for them."

I'm going to have to do some real analysing of individuals and where we are.

"Because I thought we were in a better place than what we've shown the last four to six weeks.

"In the winter break I'm looking round at what I've got, I had the chance to add to it in terms of one or two signings.

"I thought we had the mentality and the characters to sustain a push, but on the evidence of the last four or five weeks I'm getting proved wrong.

"Having said that it's me as well, because I'm responsible for that group of players."

(Image: SNS Group)

Gerrard was then asked if his side could still challenge for the title, and the Liverpool legend was blunt in his response.

He admitted: "Very, very tough.

"You've got to look at the form of other people that are relentless right now.

"But we keep going, we keep trying to change the situation that we've put ourselves in and we see how it goes from game to game.

"But there's no denying that they're obviously in the driving seat."

The first Kilmarnock goal proved controversial, as the ball struck Rory McKenzie's hand before falling to Niko Hamalainen.

Under the new IFAB guidelines any advantage gained using the hand by the attacking team should be penalised, whether deliberate or not.

(Image: SNS Group)

But Gerrard insisted: "That's not a handball. That's us clutching at straws. That's not a handball.

"To me that's a soft cross that's going away from your goal and we've got three vs one.

"The kid (McKenzie), I think he's about 5ft 7in?

"And I've got three defenders going to try and clear my box and they don't clear the box.

"They get a bit of luck with the cross but it's still a good finish and then the second goal is absolute schoolboy.

"One long ball, a flick on and a terrific finish. But it worked.

"That's schoolboy defending, you can't win anything at this level of football with defending like that."

Alfredo Morelos endured a frustrating night, missing a good chance with a header and later having a goal disallowed for a push on Stuart Findlay.

His manager said: "As a group we haven't done enough to get the result tonight. I understand you're trying to get headlines off Morelos and I think he scored a legitimate goal.

"But his all round play wasn't there tonight, his hold-up play wasn't there.

"He tried and continued but we cant always look for one person to put any blame toward.

"As a group we weren't good enough tonight and I lead that group."