If you didn’t know, former Rangers full-back Alec Cleland will be in the opposing dug-out on Wednesday night when St Johnstone come to Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership.
The Saints first-team coach is fully aware of where the main threats lie in Steven Gerrard’s side and, having been part of a successful Light Blues team himself, knows exactly what is demanded in his old position, as reported by The Glasgow Times:
“When I was at Rangers it was Davie Robertson and myself in the full-back berths.
“I would say that Davie and I were both attacking full-backs. We had pace and we were always encouraged to get forward.
“When you play for the Old Firm clubs you’re going to be attacking in most games. You can’t neglect your defensive responsibilities, you have to defend when that is required. But we were always asked to attack.
“I do see similarities. Dave and I didn’t score as many goals as Tavernier and Barisic have. But they do create a lot from the wide areas. That has been one of the strengths of Rangers this season – they get a lot of balls into the box from wide areas.
“The number of assists Tavernier and Barisic have both had in the league, the cups and in Europe has been tremendous for them. It just shows how well they are playing. They are both having great seasons. That is something that we will prepare for. We know the threat they pose.”
Teams have nullified our threat from Borna Barisic and James Tavernier in the past but with a squad that now has players like Ryan Kent, Kemar Roofe and Joe Aribo to call upon, any spaces left centrally will be punished.
You can only keep one.
Barisic
Tavernier
What our full-backs are good at is being able to provide quality from wide positions in a variety of ways, both are capable of finding a team-mate from deep or if they are given the chance to get to the goal-line and one thing they won’t do is hide if things aren’t going their way, another goal like the one Barisic scored at Ibrox earlier in the season in the first fixture between the sides would be nice.