George Overhill

Sun 3 December 2023 20:40, UK

Michael Stewart was impressed by the “lovely” assist Todd Cantwell provided for Abdallah Sima to make it 2-0 to Rangers against St Mirren.

Speaking live on BBC Sportscene on 3 December the pundit praised the under-pressure midfielder for the “slide rule” pass that freed the Senegal international to score his and the Light Blues’ second at Ibrox with a “great” finish.

Cantwell had bounced back from a miserable night against Aris Limassol in midweek, where he was replaced after just 35 minutes after losing possession in the build up to the Cypriots’ goal, to assist both of Sima’s strikes in the Scottish Premiership win.

Stewart said (7.53pm): “He’s somebody who plays with a lot of energy anyway and you could see that here today. It’s a lovely slide-rule pass for Sima.

“Great finish as well. Not particularly great defending, again [Richard] Taylor is caught out of position, but for Todd Cantwell he’s always somebody who wants to get involved in the game to try and make things happen.”

Response

For much of the afternoon Cantwell looked tentative compared to his flamboyant best, which was perhaps no surprise after his midweek experience.

It was vital that Clement didn’t allow his substitution call to cause the former Norwich man to regress further in what has been a disappointing season so far, after hitting some impressive form last term.

Instead the Belgian reacted to his mistake in starting Sam Lammers on Thursday and pushing Cantwell out wide on the right, to drop the struggling summer signing and bring the Englishman back into his preferred number 10 role.

Goalscorer against Aris Limassol Ross McCausland got a deserved start on the wing and Rangers looked all the better for it, although still not exactly swashbuckling.

Cantwell played a nice role in Sima’s first just before the break, even though at his best he likely wouldn’t have left an opening for the on-loan Brighton man to take the initiative and smash it home from off his toe.

But there was no doubt about the second goal on 70 minutes as Cantwell, having increased in confidence during the afternoon, received possession in midfield and slotted a perfect pass behind the St Mirren defence for Sima to run onto and slot home.

On a day where there was little else to shout about from a fairly pedestrian game, aside from McCausland’s continued rise, the snapshot of Cantwell’s best in a solid response after the European misery, as well as Sima’s finishing, were the definite highlights.

In other Rangers news, Clement “definitely” already has a list of as many as six players he wants to get rid of.