Rangers manager Steven Gerrard praised his players for standing firm in their 3-0 win over Livingston after accusing the visitors of "spoiling the game".

Gerrard's side took their time to build on their 20th-minute opener, when Daniel Candeias headed home Glenn Middleton's corner.

Livingston started without a recognised striker following Dolly Menga's suspension but they forced a number of set-pieces in the attacking third and Allan McGregor made a smart double save from Keaghan Jacobs and Steven Lawless in the 74th minute.

It took substitute Alfredo Morelos to see off their resistance in the final seven minutes, firstly drilling home and then setting up Scott Arfield after picking up a booking and suspension after being penalised for dissent.

But Gerrard was satisfied with his side's response.

"I know the fans want to come and see great attacking football, I understand that, but at times teams are not going to let us do that," he said.

"Teams are going to come here and try and spoil and make the game physical and go man for man in midfield, they are going to throw themselves over to try and get fouls and set-pieces, and they are going to try and spoil the game. I think at times Livingston succeeded in spoiling the game.

"Livingston have come here to spoil the game by trying to get set-pieces, trying to be direct and trying to intimidate us.

"But we stood strong, we were brave, we stood up to them and eventually got our rewards towards the end of the game because we have a top, top centre-forward who came on and provided the spark that was needed."

Gerrard praised Kyle Lafferty for doing the dirty work before Morelos came on and provided the finishing touch with his 16th goal of the season after being dropped to the bench ahead of the Europa League clash with Villarreal.

The Rangers boss added: "It was on my mind to leave him completely fresh for Thursday but I just felt at 1-0, the game had a little bit of a lull, there wasn't really much happening, and you've got a top-class player who is sitting behind you that is desperate to get on. Maybe he can provide the spark that puts the game to bed and that's exactly what he did."

Livingston manager Gary Holt claimed his side deserved a penalty for a foul on Declan Gallagher and felt the scoreline was harsh on his team.

He added: "I said to them 'don't be disappointed'. It's a 3-0 game by score only, not by performance, not by chances created.

"If we play like that every week, as we have done most weeks, we'll get good results."