With Joe Aribo tearing up the African Cup of Nations, there will be one or two Rangers players hoping that they get their chance to shine over the coming weeks.
The obvious direct replacement is Ianis Hagi who has all the attributes needed to be a game changer, playing centrally has always suited him where he doesn’t have to have blistering pace to make an impact – his vision, passing range and ability to shoot off either foot means that he is a natural at number 10.
Scott Wright, if Hagi moves inside, is the most obvious choice to start on the right wing and his numbers suggest that a run in the team is long overdue, before the winter break he was starting to add the end product to all the good build up play he has always been capable of, another beneficiary of the regime change with wingers getting more space and opportunity to impress.
Aribo has been used in midfield alongside Glen Kamara on a few occasions with Scott Arfield also selected, however, the 33-year old can’t be expected to play twice a week, every week which laves us short.
Juninho Bacuna hasn’t had much of a sniff, except against Ross County where he did impress – man of the match on Sofascore – and Steven Davis now looks like he will be used to see games out, moving to a midfield two hasn’t done him any favours.
The temptation to throw James Sands in at the deep end must be strong but he’s not played any football for a while due to when the MLS season finished, he might have to make do with coming off the bench to start with, however, given his age, it shouldn’t take him long to get up to speed.
As we saw with Calvin Bassey, every opportunity at Rangers should be grasped with both hands because they don’t come along all the time, Aribo’s absence will go one of two ways; we’ll realise how much we miss him or someone will put their hand up and become a new fans favourite.