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Kris Boyd 'cannot understand' why Steven Davis isn't playing more often for Rangers
Kris Boyd says it is ‘baffling’ that Giovanni van Bronckhorst isn’t using Steven Davis more for Rangers, and called for him to start against Celtic today.
Davis has been restricted to just 330 minutes of action since the arrival of the Dutch coach in November.
But ahead of the huge Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Celtic this afternoon, Boyd wrote in his column for the Scottish Sun that the Northern Ireland international is the perfect man for the occasion and he ‘cannot understand’ why he isn’t involved more.
“The key to winning at Hampden is to take control of the ball and knock Celtic out of their stride,” he said.
“The one player most capable of doing that is my old team-mate Steven Davis. Why the midfielder has hardly featured under Van Bronckhorst completely baffles me.
“It’s true that sometimes the hardest thing in football is to do the simple things well. And when you are so adept at that, then it can be hard to catch the eye.
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“Davis is a phenomenal talent who has enjoyed a top career at the highest level. I’m sure the Celtic midfielders are delighted every time they see his name is not on the teamsheet.
“This is the type of game that will be tailor-made for him, yet I’m not so sure he will be involved. Rangers need to keep the ball and slow it down as Celtic will want it to be frantic.
“You need cool heads in this type of situation and they don’t come much calmer than Davis.
“He is the ultimate players’ player and I simply cannot understand why he is not getting any game-time at the moment.”
Experience matters
In the big games, it’s often experience and know how that is the determining factor and the difference between winning and losing.
There is no outfield player that wears the Rangers blue that is more experienced than Davis, and his quality hasn’t diminished with age either.
He is excellent at keeping the play ticking over in possession and winning the ball back, while never afraid to put a tackle in. But father time is undefeated and with Celtic’s high-energy game it could be a risk.
Surrounding him with the legs and energy of Glen Kamara, Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo and Aaron Ramsey would be a huge positive though and could be the wildcard they didn’t know they had.
Even outside of this game, Davis could prove to be a huge asset to the boss as he looks ahead to success in the Europa League and could prove to be another option in the run-in.
In other Rangers news, Kris Boyd shares major problem Rangers have under Van Bronckhorst