STEVEN GERRARD reckons the new-look Rangers defence has given his side a solid foundation upon which to build so far this season.

The Ibrox boss has made significant changes to his Gers squad this summer and wasted little time in addressing their weaknesses at the back.

Allan McGregor has replaced Wes Foderingham in goal, while Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic have formed a new partnership at centre-half and Jon Flanagan has started at left-back.

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The spotlight has been turned on Gerrard’s attacking line following the Europa League win over FK Shkupi but the 38-year-old is pleased with the overall progress that has been made so far.

“Not necessarily because things can change very quickly,” Gerrard said when asked if the success of his defence had put more of a spotlight on his forwards.

“We are more than capable of going to get goals and everyone knows that if you don’t defend well that you can concede as well.

“I am happy with the base and I am really happy with how we have defended and individuals within that.

“But it is certainly not a case of ‘oh yeah, we are happy with the back lads, come on front boys, let’s start pulling your finger out’.

“It is not a case of that. We attack together, we defend together and plus, what I would say, is that we are very close to scoring goals and we are very close to scoring heavily.

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“If you look at the Shkupi game at home, we had chances to get another four or five goals.

“Away from home, we had three or four excellent chances where we were so close to getting that breakthrough. I am not worried, but we certainly do have to fine tune it a little bit.”

Rangers will be asked more questions in their own half during the European fixtures with Croatian side NK Osijek over the next week.

But Gerrard has been encouraged by how quickly his defensive options have settled following their moves to Ibrox.

“Yes, definitely, but it is what I expected,” he told RangersTV. “With the keeper in Allan McGregor, you know you are going to get the experience, you know you have got the winning mentality and you know that he is desperate for this club to do well. I had every confidence that he would come in and do very well.

“Buying the two new centre-backs, one of them is very young, Nikola, and I knew Connor was very experienced and he was hungry to play.

“I knew they were two good players in their own right, but in terms of the partnership they have gelled very quickly, probably a little bit quicker than what I thought.”