Ally McCoist reckons Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has a big selection dilemma to solve when striker Alfredo Morelos returns from suspension, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
Defoe performed superbly in recent matches against Hearts and Motherwell, showing that there’s more than the 22-year-old Colombian when it comes to life at Ibrox.
Combining superbly with Scott Arfield on Sunday in particular, McCoist now feels that Gerrard could find it tough to choose between the veteran striker and the 29 goal hero.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the Gers attacking legend said:
Jermain has an awful lot to offer. When he came up I thought he might not start games. Steven liked to play with two wide boys and Morelos through the middle.
But at the weekend he gave Arfield the freedom to play with Defoe and it worked really well. It gives them another option.
Put the ball in front of him and he’ll finish, but his display on Sunday was another wee string to the team’s bow with the way they played. Arfield will make runs all day because he has a great engine and can finish too.
Will Morelos be an automatic pick when he comes back now? I would have to say ‘No’. I hope it’s the case in any Rangers team that no one just comes back in.
The first thing you do is give the manager a coaching decision to make. From what I saw at the weekend, it’s a far bigger decision than it was.
Morelos is due to return at home to Hibernian on May 5th after serving a four-match suspension, with the next Old Firm derby coming just a week after that fixture.
Given he lost the head at Celtic Park last time, Gerrard would have every reason not to trust Morelos for that one, so does it make much sense to play him against Hibs?
With just an away match against Kilmarnock to come after the upcoming derby, it means the Colombian’s action before the end of the season could be severely limited.
If we keep playing in the manner of the recent performance against Motherwell and Defoe starts banging in the goals on a consistent basis, fans won’t have much of a problem with that.
Would you play Jermain Defoe ahead of Alfredo Morelos right now? Share your thoughts in the comments below…