‘Fantastic’ – Gerrard delighted as rotation option becomes ‘most consistent’ Rangers ace
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has heaped praise on midfielder Scott Arfield ahead of the Europa League qualifier against Galatasaray on Thursday.
Arfield wasn’t classed as a starter at Ibrox in pre-season, and Gerrard is delighted with how he’s forced his way into the starting XI in the past month.
The 31-year-old has featured nine times in the league and has started both Europa League games against Lincoln and Willem II so far.
Gerrard praised Arfield for doing his talking on the pitch this season, claiming it is “fantastic” for him to see from his players.
“At the beginning of the season he wasn’t a starter but at no given moment did he drop his standards,” he said via the Daily Record.
“He trained harder, he trained better and his opportunity came and he’s arguably been our most consistent player over the last run of games.
“Really pleased about how Scott has gone about his business.
“A lot of players speak in the press, Scott’s done his talking on the training pitch and the pitch which is fantastic for me.”
Arfield was mainly a substitute in the league, but his goal and assist off the bench in the 4-0 win over Dundee changed that.
The Canadian international has since started the games against Hibernian and Motherwell, scoring once and claiming a couple of assists from the heart of midfield.
That is exactly the sort of impact Gerrard will be after, and Arfield adds much more attacking intent from midfield compared to Ryan Jack.
Jack is returning from injury soon, and it will be interesting to see which route Gerrard goes down – with attacking surely at the forefront of his mind in the league.
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