Jermain Defoe revealed forgetting he was on the verge of netting his 300th club career goal helped him notch the landmark strike in the win over Livingston.
The 38-year-old frontman helped send Rangers six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after reaching his milestone in style with a sublime first-time strike after Joe Aribo’s opener at Ibrox.
Gers boss Steven Gerrard handed Defoe his first start of the season and the former England striker repaid his gaffer’s faith with his part in the win that increased the gap at the top over rivals Celtic who slipped up with at Pittodrie.
Defoe’s first club goal came for West Ham 20 years ago and after the evergreen poacher hit 300 he said: “I’ve been thinking about it for a while but I forgot about it before the game which is a good thing.
“I enjoyed it as you could see from the celebration. It’s always nice to score goals but to score my 300th like I did, I really enjoyed it.
“Me and Tav have spoken about it and against Motherwell there was a similar movement where I tried to draw the defender in to spin in behind and I had the volley and the keeper made a good save.
“We looked at it on a video and Tav’s got that range of passing. It’s important as a forward player your movement is good and you know you’re going to get in and it was an unbelievable pass.
“It was inviting and as soon as it came over the top I thought ‘I have to hit this first time’ but I tried to stay really relaxed with the finish and I made perfect contact and when it went in I was delighted.”
Defoe suffered a hamstring injury during pre-season and Gerrard revealed before the game that the evergreen striker has been angry at not getting more opportunities since returning to fitness.
And the player admitted he would be better retiring if that wasn’t the case. He told Rangers TV: “It’s been hard and I’ve been frustrated but the manager appreciates that because if I get to the stage where I accept not playing then I might as well hang the boots up.
“I’ve been tring to train well every day and not miss a session. I’ve done a lot of work in the gym because I had the injury. It’s about getting match fitness which is different from training.
“I was raring to go and prepared well for the game and I knew when you get a chance you have to take it and Joe did well as well after a long lay off with injury.
“It was a good win and we’re delighted. We still feel as if we could have played better. It wasn’t the perfect performance, especially in the second half.
“Those are the standards we’re trying to set in every game and, watching the team during my time on the sidelines they were really impressive.
"The manager and staff want that but winning the game is important and getting the three points."
