STEVEN GERRARD says he wants to emulate Celtic in order to make progress in Europe.

However, the Ibrox manager couldn’t resist a subtle dig at the club while saying it.

Celtic went through to the knockout rounds of the Europa League with 9 points in a very hard group while The Rangers only managed 5 in a much easier situation.

But according to the Ibrox manager, Celtic ‘scraped’ by into the last 32.

Speaking about his side’s demise he pointed to Celtic scraping by as somehow an excuse for his club’s own failings.

“Celtic for example, they scraped through last night,” Gerrard said to HITC “They’ve done really well to get through. But they’ve been together for two, two and a half years as a group.

“They’ve had setbacks in Europe, and they’ve learnt from them and moved on. That’s what happens in football, we aim to do the same – use the setback to grow.”

There have been many Celtic detractors claiming the Bhoys were lucky to get through. On the night, there was an element of luck but overall in the group, there was nothing lucky about it. Getting 9 points in a very hard group to go through is not scraping by.

Any team who achieved 9 points in the Europa League this season went through, and one club only went through with 8 points.

Scraping through on 9 points, aye?