Rangers return to action after their winter break this Friday night, as they take on Cowdenbeath in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

They’ll have two new faces in their squad for that tie, with veterans Jermain Defore and Steven Davis arriving from the English Premier League.

While Northern Ireland captain Davis has history with both Rangers and Scottish football, Defoe hasn’t had that opportunity yet.

I think the away trip to Fife could be an ideal way to introduce the England international to our game north of the border.

Playing against the Scottish League Two side, Defoe can expect to see the blood and thunder that comes with playing in Scotland. He’ll also quickly see that certain sides will pack their defences when they come up against The Gers and that teams raise their game against the Glasgow giants.

The prolific striker’s also desperately needs minutes on the pitch.

At AFC Bournemouth this term, Jermain was restricted to just four substitute appearances in the league. The experienced forward also managed to play four games in The Cherries League Cup campaign. Defoe will want to get many more minutes at Ibrox and he’ll also be itching to get back on the scoresheet. The sooner that happens the better, in my opinion.

My advice would be getting him into the team as soon as possible and that should aid him as he tries to quickly settle into life in Govan and help his new team challenge for the Scottish Premiership title.

If he’s fit enough to play sixty minutes or more, then I think Light Blues boss Steven Gerrard should start his former teammate.

The Gers gaffer recently told Rangers TV that Defoe’s arrival gave him new options for his front-line:

“It’s so exciting to have the options because we haven’t really had that,”

“We’ve only really had one or two ways of playing and we’ve tended to stick with that.”

I understand Gerrard’s enthusiasm and think it would be very worthwhile playing two up-top against The Blue Brazil at Central Park but I’d be more inclined to give Alfredo Morelos the night off and start with Jermian alongside Kyle Lafferty in an forward two.

Morelos has been in great form this term but he’s probably been overused due to a lack of credible options in the Gers squad. Having Defoe and a returning Ryan Hardie in the ranks gives Steven Gerrard the chance to rest Alfredo for such games.

Lafferty would offer up a good foil for Defoe and he could also run the channels for the thirty-six year old hitman. It would also be intriguing to see how well the big man/wee man attacking partnership would work out.

There’s plenty of excitement surround the new Rangers number nine and the player himself will be keen to get started. With all that in mind, then why not get him on the park for the Scottish Cup game and help him regain his match sharpness?

Posted on January 14th, 2019 by scott
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