STEVEN GERRARD is confident Rangers can achieve their domestic ambitions in the second half of the season as he looks to go from strength to strength in the coming months.

The Light Blues rounded off the first stage of the campaign on a high note last month as a dominant Old Firm win at Ibrox took them level on points with Celtic at the top of the Premiership standings.

Gerrard led his side into the Europa League groups at the first attempt and Rangers will kick-off their bid for Scottish Cup silverware when they face Cowdenbeath on Friday night.

The 38-year-old overhauled his squad during the summer and has already added Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis to his ranks this months as the Gers gear up for a potentially historic run of fixtures during the run-in.

And Gerrard is pleased with the progress that has been made at Ibrox after putting his players through their paces at a winter training camp in Tenerife during the top flight shutdown.

Gerrard said: “I am delighted. I think in terms of the European run, we punched above our weight and probably exceeded expectation if you compare it to 12 months ago.

“In terms of the league, we are obviously in a healthy position on the back of a really important Old Firm win but, looking back and analysing it, there are still areas where we can get better, where we can improve.

“We have dropped silly points at times, we have had a few bumps and setbacks along the way, which I expected and which I predicted. But, moving forward, the less of them the better.

“Look, it is all the play for. The important thing is for us to focus on the next three points, but I am not going to sit here and lie, we have got targets, in house, that we all want to go and achieve and that is the way it should be at a big club.”