Kevin Kelsy's Rangers debut: 'Elephant in the room' addressed amid Lawrence Shankland blow

Kevin Kelsy's Rangers debut did not go to plan.

The Venezuelan forward signed on transfer deadline day and played his first game for the Gers in the 1-0 win over Motherwell.

The £9.5million man replaced Minsu Kim in the 69th minute of the Ibrox clash on Saturday.

However, the expensive star could not have the required impact for Derek McInnes' side and finish off the game when it came down to it.

Kelsy spurned a glorious chance to double the lead, and it is safe to say there are big expectations on his shoulders already, given the fee.

Whether he can live up to them and be the goalscorer that the Light Blues need after Lawrence Shankland's injury blow remains to be seen.

What is the elephant in the room after Kevin Kelsy's Rangers debut?

Kelsy was thrown into the deep end just two days after signing, and it showed against the Steelmen.

Daily Mail journalist Gary Keown addressed the six-cap international debut in a column on Sunday.

He believes that the striker needs to show his worth shortly, especially with Shankland's potential three month hamstring injury.

He said: "Make no mistake, though, Kelsy has to be the go-to man for these Old Firm extravaganzas, like it or not, that mighty transfer fee alone dictates it.

"He is match-fit from playing in Major League Soccer and should be ready to go, ready to show that he is ready to act on those sentiments about handling expectation and showing he's capable of taking considerable weight on those shoulders of his.

"Let's get the elephant in the room ushered out the door first, Kelsy missed a sitter against Motherwell, with 75 minutes on the clock and Rangers pushing hard to get the second goal that would have killed this stone-dead, a low cross from the left from James Penrice took the slightest deflection and sat up perfectly for him around ten yards out.

"It was a moment he would have dreamed of, a perfect opportunity to get off to a flier, he got it all wrong, though, getting his left foot under the ball and sending a pretty dreadful effort off the top of the crossbar."

While his debut was far from ideal, he should not be disregarded after just one match in a totally new environment.

Why Kelsy should take inspiration from Youssef Chermiti

The financial aspect of the deal to bring him to Govan will forever be held against Kelsy if he can't perform.

However, he should take inspiration for another expensive addition, Youssef Chermiti, who is expected to be out of the season.

The former Everton man was written off last season after a slow start, and ended up scoring 15 goals in his maiden Scottish Premiership season.

Chermiti was believed to be the subject of a big money offer from Galatasaray, before he suffered his anterior cruciate ligament injury in August.

Kelsy should use his sidelined teammate as inspiration if he struggles to get up to speed in Scottish football.

One thing that he can afford to do, is let his head drop and lose confidence as that will definitely not help him.

It would be easy to crumble under the pressure, and he needs to show that he has the mentality to be a success at Auchenhowie.