STEVEN GERRARD was delighted with a ‘selfless’ performance from Alfredo Morelos as he fired Rangers to within touching distance of the Europa League third qualifying round.

The Colombian netted the only goal of the game to give Gerrard’s side a 1-0 win over NK Osijek in Croatia last night.

Morelos was the only recognised first team striker in the Light Blues squad after Umar Sadiq was left in Glasgow to build up his fitness and sharpness following his loan switch from Roma.

Read more: NK Osijek 0-1 Rangers: Steven Gerrard's side clinch first leg win in Croatia​

And boss Gerrard was full of praise for the 22-year-old as he produced an impressive all round showing that was capped with a neat first half header from James Tavernier's cross.

He said: “It was a selfless performance, I thought he ran himself into the ground for the sake of the team.

“My experience going away in Europe is that sometimes you have to do the dirty stuff.

“It’s not all about hat-tricks and it’s not all about the pretty stuff, sometimes it’s about emptying the tank for your team mates.

“It’s about showing a different side of you on nights like this.

“He will have games where he has numerous chances, he’ll take them and he’ll look a superstar.

“But he’ll get the headlines in a different way tonight and I am really proud of his application and his effort. He’s going in the right direction.”

Gerrard had demanded an improvement from his side in the aftermath of the goalless draw with FK Shkupi in Macedonia last week.

And the 38-year-old had plenty of reasons to be pleased as Rangers produced a professional performance in the Stadion Gradski.

The Gers had to stand up to sustained spells of pressure at times as Osijek looked for a way back into the game but will take a 1-0 lead back to Ibrox.

Gerrard said: “I am satisfied but it’s only half-time in the tie and we can’t lose sight of that fact.

Read more: NK Osijek 0-1 Rangers: Steven Gerrard's side clinch first leg win in Croatia​

“It was the performance and the result we were looking for. The plan was to come here and try and get another clean sheet and that’s exactly what we achieved.

“We wanted an important away goal too but that only becomes important if we go and finish the job in the second leg.

“Make no mistake we will need to be professional at Ibrox because Osijek are not going anywhere, they are not going away and they’re not going to give up.

“I am sure they will be frustrated and disappointed with the result so I expect a reaction from them in the return so for me it’s still game on.”

Gerrard may have been without the services of Sadiq but he was able to hand starts to loan signings Lassana Coulibaly and Ryan Kent in Croatia.

And both caught the eye on their first outings following their switches from Angers and Liverpool this summer.

Gerrard said: “I thought they were two very impressive debuts. Myself and my staff were very bold in our selection today.

“Lassana hasn’t played many friendly matches but you can see he’s a machine, and he’s still only about 70 or 80 per cent fit.

“Ryan Kent has played two 45 minutes although he’s had a lot of volume through Jurgen Klopp’s training. In terms of game sharpness he too has another level to go to.”

Kent became the eleventh signing of the summer when he put pen-to-paper on a season-long loan switch on Sunday.

Manchester City defender Kean Bryan is on the verge of following him north of the border but boss Gerrard said: “I’ve got nothing to say on it just yet. He is not our player but there is an interest.”