Stephen Craigan praises ‘quality’ Todd Cantwell for role in Rangers goal v Ross County live on BT Sport
BT Sport pundit Stephen Craigan has praised the “quality” of Todd Cantwell after his assist for Rangers in the win over Ross County on Saturday, 4 February.
The Gers claimed a 2-1 win thanks to goals from substitute Malik Tillman and Borna Barisic’s deflected free-kick at Ibrox, to cut Celtic’s lead at the top of the table down to six points.
And speaking live on BT Sport Score (4 February, 15:48), Craigan was keen to point out the role of the former Norwich winger in the opening goal by praising his “quality”, “composure” and “finesse”.
“I mentioned Todd Cantwell earlier on, he’s right at the heart of it.
“There was a period of about a minute where Ross County couldn’t clear the ball, crosses coming in and getting cleared away to the edge of the box. Rangers recycled the ball but it was being cleared.
“Todd Cantwell makes a run down the right hand side, gets to the byline and sometimes wide players want to fire it across, but he stands it up, lovely, right into the middle of the six yard box.
“Tillman, who didn’t start the game, he came on as a substitute for John Lundstram, just guides the ball past Ross Laidlaw.
“It looked like Ross County were going to hold on until half-time but a little bit of quality, a little bit of finesse and composure and Rangers find themselves 1-0 up.
Jules Breach, host of the show, also chimed in with praise for the January signing.
“Great skill from Todd Cantwell there, that move to Rangers going well so far for him,” she said.
Quality
There is so much depth within this Rangers squad right now in attacking areas, and Cantwell has been excellent since joining.
His close control, dribbling, intelligence and movement have all stood out so far but also his work rate off the ball means he is likely to be a key player under Michael Beale going forward.
It was a lovely bit of play from him to set up Tillman for the goal after what had been a largely frustrating first half performance at home, and it allowed us the extra freedom in the second half to step up and take all three points again.
With the likes of Ryan Kent, Fashion Sakala, Tillman, Rabbi Matondo and Scott Wright all competing for a spot in those attacking positions it ensures that standards simply cannot slip.
Those moments of quality were severely lacking in the first half of the season and are why we’re behind Celtic in the title race, so it’s great to see those immediate changes taking place.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton lets rip at Beale for Old Firm comments live on BT Sport.