Philippe Clement could hook Ryan Jack at HT amid ‘Gone’ Rangers performance
Rangers fans will have been excited to see a midfield trio of Ryan Jack, Nico Raskin and Mohamed Diomande when the starting XI against Ayr was announced on Saturday 10 February.
The former has only just returned from injury, with the latter handed his first start in a Rangers shirt since arriving at Ibrox during the January transfer window.
However, Philippe Clement’s midfield has been Rangers’ biggest weakness in the opening 45 minutes, with the Championship outlet attempting to get on level terms after Borna Barisic’s superb opener.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound (10 February, 5:53pm), Neil McCann said: “The midfield of Rangers is just gone at times. Raskin, Diomande, and Jack all gone.
“If Ayr United can get their heads up, get it to Dowd, they’ve got chances for counterattacking football.”
Pick of the bunch for Rangers
In all honesty, Clement could hook any three of the midfield trio. However, with Jack’s recent injury worries, it would make more sense to drag him off at half-time than Diomande or Raskin.
Raskin is also on his way back from injury, but with two cameos against Hibernian and St Mirren, he has played more football than Jack. The Scotland international only has 105 minutes to his name since November.
With the introduction of John Lundstram, for example, Rangers would be able to gain much more control in midfield, with no real connection between the defence and attack.
Oscar Cortes has been the most impressive player for the Gers, grabbing an assist for Barisic’s opener and probably should have had a goal of his own after smacking the base of the post in the second minute.
The Colombian has been dropping a little deeper on his left flank, helping to create a better connection to the attack, but there is still the issue of the liability in midfield which could cause more problems in the second half.
In other Rangers news, David Edgar reacted as another Scottish club blasted the SPFL over an “embarrassing” Light Blues controversy.
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