For most of the positions in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers squad, we know who the first-choice players are but for the right-back position, the issue isn’t who is the number one, but who is the back-up?
Previously, we had Jon Flanagan and Matt Polster, then there was the emergence of Nathan Patterson, who is now showing Everton fans that he was worth every penny of the £16million deal that saw him head to the Premier League, now though, it could be any one of four.
The most obvious one is Adam Devine given that right-back is his natural position, however, out of all the candidates, he is the weakest and still has a long way to go before he can be considered a genuine first-team squad member.
His fellow academy graduate Leon King has a better claim despite being a natural centre-half, he is comfortable in possession and, as we saw against Ajax, can handle himself defensively, if anything, it could be a good place for him to get additional minutes.
An outside bet would be Ryan Jack, he has played there for Scotland, Aberdeen and for Rangers, on the odd occasion, but I just can’t see Gio going with him, even though he would probably do a decent job.
Now that Ben Davies is fit again, James Sands has to be the favourite along with King, should Tavernier need extra time to recover. The American has played a similar role as a right-sided centre-half in a back three at New York City, is good with the ball and has the skill set to be a success – at a time when we haven’t been strong at set-pieces, having another more physical player wouldn’t go amiss either.
We should find out today if the skipper is going to make it, if not, these are the choices – who would you go with to face the side currently sitting top of Serie A?