Ibrox director of football Mark Allen revealed last month that Rangers were hoping to open talks with Liverpool about extending Kent's stay in Glasgow into next season.

And Gerrard is desperate to see his budding relationship with the 22-year-old, who endured two frustrating loan stints with Freiburg and Bristol City last term, continue.

He said: "I have been delighted with his contribution since he walked through the door. On the back of two tough loans he has come here and taken the league by storm so far.

"The challenge for Ryan was, 'can he produce against the top teams in the league?' Well he's now produced against Aberdeen and did against Celtic and is finding consistency in his game.

"He's happy, he's enjoying it and I'm loving working with him."

Rangers finally toppled Derek McInnes' Dons at the fourth attempt this season and they will now look to avenge last month's Kilmarnock defeat when they head to Rugby Park for Saturday's William Hill Scottish Cup last-16 clash.

Morelos will sit out the meeting with Steve Clarke's side after seeing red against the Dons for the third time in as many games this term – and his fourth in total – but Gerrard wants the rest of his players to show the same hunger that has seen them bounce back from their Killie setback with four straight wins.

Speaking to RangersTV, he added: "We have to decide on a team and a formation for the weekend at Kilmarnock. We have had a tough night here tonight so we need to recover well and try to get people fit and available for the game.

"We want to try and get to the next round of the cup and then, of course, since Kilmarnock in the league, I have seen the reaction I have wanted to see – but we can't stop here.

"Aberdeen are not going to go away, Kilmarnock are not going to go away, Hearts are finding form, so we need to keep pushing. We need to try and go on a run of form now and keep winning games."

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