Rangers suffered yet another huge blow to their Scottish Premiership hopes and now require a minor miracle to catch Old Firm rivals Celtic after a 2-2 draw with St Johnstone on Sunday.
After doing the hard work and recovering from an early goal to go 2-1 in front, the Gers conceded a sloppy second goal to allow the Perth sides a share of the points.
Ironically, Rangers looked better than they have done in recent weeks in attack, especially in the second half after the introduction of Florian Kamberi, however, defensively they looked as bad as they have all season.
Niko Katic was culpable at both goals and will be incredibly lucky if he retains his place against Braga on Wednesday night, with George Edmundson waiting to take his place.
Rangers – with the Old Firm game before the break the exception – haven’t looked as solid defensively since Filip Helander got injured in the league cup final and fans will be desperately hoping he returns sooner rather than later.
What was main cause for the dropped points against St Johnstone?
Formation change at 2-1.
Defensive errors.
Gers fans took to Twitter to criticise the big Croatian’s role in his side dropping yet more points as the league title slips away.
2 points dropped nothing to do with the changes Gerrard made its purely down to Niko Katic not being able to defend properly 2 goals on him today. He should have been hooked at half time he was that bad but he kept him on. Quicker Helander is back the better
— Barry (@bkerr72) February 23, 2020
Niko Katic …. one word. Shocking
— Bill Simpson (@billsimps) February 23, 2020
7 points chucked away from a winning position since the break. Mentality in this squad is seriously weak. Niko Katic again showing why he’s never consistently in the team, always looks like he has a mistake in him. Also got to be the last time we start with that system 🤦🏽♂️
— Ross MacKenzie (@r_mackenzie8) February 23, 2020
The manager done his job today. Those 2 points dropped are on Niko Katic, no one else.
— POTNoodle (@potnoodle1872) February 23, 2020
We need to talk about Niko Katic.
— adamski152 (@adamski152) February 23, 2020
Got to be more positive mate. You can see the difference instantly. Defensively the two centre backs, katic particularly have killed us today
— Ross MacKenzie (@r_mackenzie8) February 23, 2020
Gerrard has a history of backing players in a poor run of form so, although Katic had a very poor game, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he starts once again on Wednesday, especially with the additional aerial threat of Hearts to come at the weekend.