When John Lundstram saw red against Alashkert, few would have seen him going on to be a key player for us this season and end up spraying passes about like prime Matthias Sammer from the centre of defence against the great sweeper’s former team.
The big Scouser looked for long parts like a square peg in a round hole in the Rangers midfield after his summer move, however, he has been rejuvenated in recent weeks and seems hell bent on proving that he has a future at the club.
His partnership with Ryan Jack has been akin to the one Ian Ferguson and Stuart McCall used to enjoy when they formed the beating heart of one of the most successful Rangers teams of all time, hard, energetic, commanding, but also not short in quality in possession either.
Lundstram is being allowed to show all his strengths now, demonstrating exactly why we signed him in the first place and when he revealed that Giovanni van Bronckhorst earmarked him for a potential role in his defence not long after he arrived, it gave us a glimpse into how he might be deployed in the future.
The gaffer has played in plenty of teams where a midfielder has played as a centre-half either as part of a two or as a sweeper, the second-half against Dortmund had shades of Tugay and Monaco about it when Lundstram dropped in next to Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun, that Allan McGregor had a considerably quieter 45 minutes after the break tells its own story.
Redemption rarely happens overnight but two displays against a top European side prove that he has what it takes to be a success for Rangers, playing a key role in getting us back to the summit of Scottish football would complete his transformation from sinner to Saint.