Rangers spent decent money in strengthening their forward line in the summer and it has paid dividends, with both Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten contributing in key fixtures.
Steven Gerrard had been continuously linked with a move for QPR’s Lyndon Dykes – which was denied by the Light Blues – and his impressive form for Scotland has led former Ger, Alan Hutton, to claim that the Ibrox side may have missed a trick in not signing the former Livingston striker in an interview with Football Insider.
So what has Hutton said?
When asked if he thought that Dykes was one that “got away”, he said:
“Yeah, maybe. Yeah, I think that’s the type of player Scotland have been missing, that kind of focal point, and they’ve now got him.
“He’s really relishing the challenge of being up there and battling with people and bringing others into play. I’ve always said that he used to give a lot of teams a lot of problems when he was at Livingston and he’s taken that down south and he’s now doing it on the international scene.
“So yeah, Rangers have missed a trick with him. I think he could have definitely given them something different to the likes of Morelos and Roofe. Itten possibly is the same type but they’ve used Itten more in a wider position.
“I think he’d have been a great addition for the Rangers squad, definitely. because he’s proven it on a high stage now.”
So is Hutton correct?
Dykes, as he has shown for Scotland, is very good at what he does, chasing lost causes and holding the ball up to bring others into play as well as being a nuisance in general for opposition defenders.
But, and in a similar way to Ross McCrorie, just because he is a decent player, it doesn’t mean he would fit into our style of play, ironically, he probably would have been a good fit in Gerrard’s first season in charge as a back-up to Alfredo Morelos when he was used as a lone battering ram.
Hutton is right in that he would bring something different to the Rangers attack but he would very rarely get an opportunity to prove it, in close games against well packed defences we need a player who might only need one chance to score – and for that reason, even Jermain Defoe would be ahead of him in the pecking order.