Fashion Sakala hasn’t seen many minutes so far this season, the Zambian international having to look on from the sidelines, or the stand, with Scott Wright, Scott Arfield, Tom Lawrence, Malik Tillman and Rabbi Matondo all picked ahead of him, however, α well-taken goal and an equal as impressive assist could see that about to change.
Vital Rangers has long campaigned for the chaos that Sakala brings to the attack to be α more regular feature, his numbers alone are better than anything anyone else in α similar position can point to and it has been baffling to see him have to wait until October for his first start.
Speaking after α man of the match performance, the 25-year old revealed that he was finally happy to be given α chance:
“If he gives me a start against Liverpool, I’ll be ready. I hope to start but it’s his decision. I’m OK to play in all of the attacking positions even though I’m used to playing as a striker. But playing on the wing is one of the advantages I have here.
“Can I play as a striker instead of Antonio? No chance! No chance for me. I appreciate playing on the right because I can see there’s big competition up there with Antonio and Alfredo Morelos. I don’t compete with the strikers any more so I’ve been trying hard to work on the wings. I just feel good to be back in the line-up. This was the first game I’ve started this season.
“I have a good relationship with the coach, he’s always pushing me to work extra hard in training and I do. I appreciate that he’s given me the chance to prove myself again and his trust in me.”
Sometimes it’s forgotten that Sakala played as α central striker before he came to Rangers and we have used him more as α winger, α position that he isn’t used to and needs to gain α better understanding of where to be both in and out of possession.
The problem is, is that he can’t adapt or improve if he doesn’t get the chance and, personally, I’d rather have someone with his flaws who can also produce what he did against St Mirren than α player who may be better technically but who isn’t going to score or create as many goals.