The Gers manager has showered encomium on the Zambia international for his treble against the Steelmen in Sunday’s league showdown
Fashion Sakala is trusting the way Rangers play and his teammates are starting to trust him, according to manager Steven Gerrard who is impressed with the Zambian’s heroics against Motherwell.
Starting his third league game of the 2021-22 campaign, the 24-year-old scored his first career hat-trick as the Gers silenced the Steelmen 6-1 in Sunday’s Scottish Premiership encounter.
At the Fir Park Stadium, Sakala scored his first goal on the stroke of half time before completing his treble in the last 45 minutes.
In his post-match reaction, manager Gerrard was delighted with the former Oostende forward – who was the star of the show against Graham Alexander’s men.
“And look, Fashion will get all the headlines and rightly so,” the Englishman told the club website.
“He deserves it, and he has worked hard and come on and made a difference in his cameos, but he has just showed something different in the last week to 10 days that he is more settled now and he is ready and his teammates are starting to trust him and he is trusting the way we play.
“We felt, as a staff, he was ready to be put in for an opportunity and he has grabbed it with both hands.”
The Liverpool legend also lauded the overall performance of his team claiming they gave him more than he demanded.
“They gave us everything we wanted and some more. I thought it was a really emphatic victory and we could have had more goals,” he continued.
“I thought we looked dangerous throughout and the pleasing thing for me was, we looked like us.
“Everything we have tried to build and everything I have asked for in terms of an identity and a philosophy, the players have delivered.
“They have carried the game plan out and every single one of them stood up today and were fantastic.”
Thanks to this result, Rangers remain at the summit of the log having accrued 24 points from 11 matches.
The Gers now head to Copenhagen to take on Brondby in the Europa League full of confidence.
Three days after taking on the Danish side, they square up against Ross County in their next league outing.
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