Very rarely when a team is out of form does it suddenly snap back into it, but, this is what Steven Gerrard’s side has to do against Ross County in Dingwall this afternoon.
Rangers looked better against Dunfermline, but they weren’t up to much, and against Alashkert, the final scoreline wasn’t really a fair reflection of the chances that had been created, Ianis Hagi – described as “superb” by his manager alone could have had a hat-trick of assists had his team-mates been more accurate with their finishing – yes, there were problems in the first-half but I’m not convinced it was as bad as has been made out by some, I suppose it depends if your glass is half -full or half-empty.
We’ve not had much consistency this season, either in selection or performance, and with such an important run of games before the international break the gaffer should be keeping rotation to a minimum, instead, using substitutions to give players minutes and to rest key men.
This is the XI I think Gerrard will go with as we look to get our league campaign back on track:
There are two key positions that I’m not sure what we will go with, who will play in midfield with Glen Kamara and Steven Davis, and who will play in attack with Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe?
I’ve gone with Joe Aribo in midfield because I don’t think Ianis Hagi is likely to start against Celtic, as a result, I think he will start in Armenia in mid-week – if he is fit – with the Nigerian international dropping to the bench.
The Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe forward line remains our most potent, and is what I’d expect us to start with in the derby, so they should be given a chance to start together this week seeing as the latter is still suspended for the Alashkert game. Who starts in mid-week is another story, although Scott Wright has impressed and will be many fans choice, if he is fit that is.
Borna Barisic might be a controversial choice at left-back when you consider how good Calvin Bassey has been in his appearances, however, I still think the Croatian’s experience will give him the edge when Gerrard is considering his Old Firm team and he needs to get match fit, his rest will come on Thursday, not only that, but his young deputy deserves to play.
For me, we just need to be more clinical, with our final ball and with our finishing, it’s the one area that has created any real cause for concern with the knock on effect being that any defensive mistakes become amplified, especially if they are punished – a consistent line-up will go a long way to addressing this issue but, as always, there points is all that really matters.