Rangers boss Steven Gerrard insists he's moved on from Alfredo Morelos ' reaction to being substituted during the 4-0 win over Aberdeen on Sunday.
The Ibrox boss admitted at the weekend he was at a loss to explain the Colombian's body language after being replaced by Jermain Defoe.
But Gerrard has backed his Rangers talisman and claimed he would rather players weren't pleased when coming off the pitch for the runaway Premiership leaders.
And the 40-year-old believes Morelos will raring to go ahead of Thursday's pivotal Europa League showdown with Benfica.
He said: "Alfredo is fine, we don't want players smiling and happy when they are taking off the pitch. Alfredo is in a good place and is ready to go again tomorrow.
"It is my job to manage the players when I think the time is right."
The Rangers boss admits he cannot wait for Thursday's mouthwatering showdown against the Portuguese champions.
And he's called upon his players to use the frustration suffered in the 3-3 draw as motivation to help secure a historic result on home turf.
He added: "Winning games builds confidence and belief in the group, we showed in big parts of the last game that we can match and compete with Benfica.
"We have big respect for the quality of Benfica and is a game we are very excited about.
"I can feel a determination in the group but I have seen that since the first day of pre-season.
"We need to try and use the experience from the last match against Benfica going into this 90 minutes. No matter the starting XI we face, we know this will be a real challenge."
