IF the entire Rangers first team squad was laid low by yellow fever tomorrow the Ibrox club would probably still go on and win the Premiership at a canter playing kids.

Their lead is substantial, second-placed Celtic are in disarray and they only have another 12 matches. There is considerable margin for error.  

Yet, Steven Gerrard still feels that freshening up the options available to him before the January transfer window closed on Monday night will aid his side’s Scottish title bid going forward.

Jack Simpson and Scott Wright, who had signed pre-contract agreements, arrived from Bournemouth and Aberdeen respectively in the final hours of the window as Brandon Barker, George Edmondson, Jordan Jones and Glenn Middleton all departed on loan.

Having centre half Simpson and winger Wright involved during the remaining months of the 2020/21 campaign will allow the duo to settle in to their new surroundings and enable them to make a major impact next term.

However, Gerrard, whose men take on St Johnstone at home in the league this evening, is also hopeful the new faces will invigorate his team as they close in on the Premiership trophy in the weeks ahead.  

“I am delighted with how the window has gone from a personal point of view,” he said. “I must pay my respect again to Ross Wilson (Rangers sporting director) and the board for the way they went about it.

“I know the two signings happened late on Monday night, but there was an awful lot of work which went into it throughout the window and prior to it, to identify our targets and get the deals done.

“I’m delighted to have the two new boys in, I think they will really freshen things up. It’s a bonus to get them down in this window, rather than waiting until the summer.

“We have three and a half months now to really get them ready. They are excited and they will help us in the short term, for sure. They are two talented players.

“A few players have gone out the other way who were in different situations but weren’t really getting the game time they were happy with. So I think the window has worked out pretty well. I think those two players will re-energise us now in the games moving forward.”

Gerrard added: “With Jordan Jones and Brandon Barker going out, it was important we got the Scott Wright deal done so we are okay in the forward positions.

“George Edmundson had an opportunity he wanted to explore at Derby because he wanted game time, he’s had a frustrating season. We respected that. So it’s important that we have four strong centre-half options and I’m really pleased with how it has worked out.

“I am confident that the players we have added are going to contribute from now until the end of the season which will be a bonus because I didn’t expect them until the summer. It also made me push on certain decisions to allow certain players to go out.”

Simpson’s club mate Nnamdi Ofoborh, who signed a pre-contract agreement with Rangers last month, returned to English Championship club Wycombe Wanderers on loan on Monday.

Gerrard, though, feels he is well covered in Ofoborh’s position and is happy the central midfielder, who spent last season at Adams Park, will get regular matches before moving to Glasgow. 

“Nnamdi’s situation was slightly different to the other two boys,” he said. “In the midfield area, we are fighting for numbers right now so there wasn’t really a rush or need to push that one through.

“But I’m really pleased he has gone to Wycombe to play games. He wasn’t getting much game time at Bournemouth so there was a slight concern that he might have missed half a season when he joined up with us in the summer.

“So for him to go to Wycombe, he will be in a better place when he comes. He’s another talent we are really looking forward to working with.

“But there was no point in us bringing him here just now because we’ve got two players in each position in the three midfield areas who are all doing well.”

Gerrard revealed that his Aberdeen counterpart Derek McInnes was keen to hold on to Wright despite the outcry among supporters of the Pittodrie club when the player signed a pre-contract agreement with their top flight rivals.

The former Liverpool and England midfielder reckons the 23-year-old completing the move now – and Ross McCrorie making his switch to Aberdeen permanent at the same time – is in the best interests of all parties. 

“When we announced the pre-contract that really changed things from his own personal point of view with the reaction,” he said.

“Aberdeen tried very hard to keep Scott. They have put an awful lot of work into him. Derek mentioned that he really wanted to keep him and tried really hard to do that.

“I had a conversation with Derek on the change over and he mentioned Flo Kamberi (the former Rangers player who has moved to Aberdeen on loan until the summer) too. We had a really professional chat on both players.

“But in the end I think the right thing for the player was to do it now rather than the summer because things changed when we announced the pre-contract. So we move forward now and all the conversations we had with Aberdeen were very amicable and professional which was good.”