Rangers players must be more effective in front of goal said manager Steven Gerrard after they dropped their first points of the season in a 0-0 draw with Livingston. — AFP/VNA Photo

GLASGOW — Rangers have only themselves to blame for dropping their first points of the season said manager Steven Gerrard after a 0-0 draw with Livingston in their Premiership clash on Sunday.

Rangers still went top on goal difference above Hibernian, whose 100 percent start to the season ended with a 0-0 draw at home to Motherwell on Saturday.

Rangers' bitter rivals Celtic are six points in arrears but the champions have two games in hand as both their games this week were postponed after defender Boli Bolingoli breached COVID-19 protocols.

Gerrard rued the fact his side failed to test Livingston goalkeeper Max Stryjek on his debut.

Stryjek pulled off one fabulous save from Borna Barisic to deny Rangers the three points.   

"As a team, we know what we are doing by now, so we've got ourselves to blame in terms for not having the answers today in the final third," Gerrard told Sky Sports.

"We kept getting into the right areas of the pitch, but we just lacked that bit of quality in the final third.

"The reality is we didn't test their keeper enough in the first 45 minutes considering it was his debut."

Livingston, who secured only their second point in four matches, will have their finances significantly bolstered if striker Lyndon Dykes' move to English Championship side Queens Park Rangers goes through next week.

The 24-year-old Australian's fee reported to be £2 million ($2.6 million) is set to exceed the previous record the club received for a player, after Celtic paid £1 million for Spaniard David Fernandez in 2002.

"As a club, it's a great acknowledgement of the work going on to help develop players that Lyndon's transfer fee will break the current club record previously held by the sale of David Fernandez to Celtic FC back in 2002," said Livingston's head of football operations David Martindale. — AFP