Gerrard shoulders blame for Motherwell's last-gasp equaliser

Steven Gerrard offered to shoulder the blame for Motherwell’s last-gasp equaliser after Rangers threw away victory at Fir Park.

With Rangers clinging on to a 3-2 lead, Gerrard decided to end Lee Wallace’s exile by bringing the ­former captain on to help defend a 94th-minute corner.

But as the Ibrox men reshuffled, Motherwell took advantage, with captain Peter Hartley – this week forced to apologise over crass comments mocking former Rangers ­defender Fabio Cardoso – having the last laugh as he bundled home with the last kick of the match.

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It was a bitter blow for Gerrard’s team as they slipped four points ­behind early pacesetters Hearts.

The former Liverpool skipper admits his side need to tighten up while defending set-pieces after seeing Carl McHugh nod home from a Gael Bigirimana free-kick during the first half.

But he also vowed to put his hands up if the decision to ­introduce Wallace was the cause of their late slip-up.

He said: “They had four or five big units on there, then I have a defender sitting behind me who is 6ft 3in, and with all due respect to Ovie Ejaria – and he was good today – Lee Wallace is a lot better at ­defending set-pieces. That was the thinking behind it.

“If I’ve got it wrong I’ll take the blame, no problem.”

Rangers found themselves behind for the first time since Gerrard took over after three minutes when Danny Johnson pounced on a slip by Connor Goldson to lob Allan McGregor.

The visitors hit back when Kyle Lafferty grabbed his first goal since returning to the club from Hearts and added a second as he then ­cancelled out McHugh’s header.

Rangers completed the turnaround when an Ejaria strike burst through Trevor Carson’s hands just before half-time. But just as the visitors tripped up in stoppage time against Aberdeen on the opening day, so did they drop another two points when Hartley finished off from Bigirimana’s late delivery.

“I’m bitterly disappointed with the timing of the equaliser,” said Gerrard, who shot down reports linking him with Ryan Gauld and Nathan Dyer. “It [hurts] that little bit more that late. We defended very well to their style in open play for the majority of the game.

“But we’ve got work to do defending set-plays, that’s for sure.

“The first goal was an unlucky one, obviously. I’ve been there myself so I feel for Connor on that one.”

There was more than a hint of irony that it was Hartley who grabbed the equaliser for Motherwell after he was made to retract comments made in the build-up.

The defender said it had been “fun to watch” Cardoso “weeping” after the Portuguese defender suffered a broken nose in a clash with Well frontman Ryan Bowman last term.