HAVING Alfredo Morelos in their starting line-up wasn’t enough to ensure that Rangers defeated Hibernian on either of their visits to Easter Road last season; they were held to 0-0 and 1-1 draws by their hosts despite the presence of their free-scoring striker.
So how exactly are the Ibrox club going to fare without their leading goalscorer, who has been ruled out of tonight’s Ladbrokes Premiership match in Leith after being ordered off against Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday, involved?
His suspension has made an already treacherous trip to the capital for a meeting with opponents who have been transformed by the arrival of new manager Jack Ross last month that bit more demanding.
Steven Gerrard, though, is in no doubts that Morelos’s vastly-experienced understudy Jermain Defoe will grasp the chance he will be handed tonight and can help his side triumph at Easter Road for the first time in two years and move back to within two points of top flight leaders Celtic.
Defoe has found first team game time limited in recent weeks due to the scintillating form of the Colombian up front both domestically and in Europe and has only started in one of Rangers’ last eight matches.
But Gerrard sees his former England team mate every day in training and is convinced he can still make a significant contribution during the remainder of this season and even beyond.
“I have got every confidence in Jermain,” he said. “He has been training well and waiting for this type of opportunity. I know his hunger, I know his professionalism, I know how he goes about his work to make sure that when opportunities to come in games he’s ready to pounce and execute on them.
“His goals and numbers (he has netted 13 times in 24 appearances in the 2019/20 campaign to date) don’t surprise me.
“Jermain probably deserves a bit more game time, but it’s very difficult, when you’ve got a forward like Alfredo and he’s scoring such important goals and the team’s in decent form, to make those type of changes.
“But I have to praise his professionalism andhispatience. Now it’s over to Jermain because there will be options from now before the break. So there will be plenty of opportunities and game time for Jermain Defoe to get his numbers even better than they are now.”
Gerrard has handed Steven Davis and Allan McGregor contract extensions this month and is also eager to keep Defoe in Glasgow when his loan deal with Bournemouth, and his deal with the Premier League club, expire next summer.
“We have to wait and respect Bournemouth’s position with Jermain,” he said. “But Jermain knows the situation, that we want to keep him beyond this season. But there is nothing we can do on that at the moment except wait and be patient.”
Gerrard conceded Rangers will change how they approach a game against a Hibs team who are undefeated at home in three games under Ross due to the fact that Defoe, not Morelos, will be leading the line.
“Jermain is different,” he said. “He is probably not as mobile as Alfredo. Jermain is a box player. He has got really clever, subtle movements. The players need to understand that and they have to make sure they provide a different kind of service to Jermain Defoe.”
Gerrard will look to Joe Aribo, who has been enjoying a rich vein of form after being freed to play in the same way that he did at former club Charlton, to provide Defoe with opportunities tonight.
“I’ve given Joe more responsibility and he’s benefited from that,” he said. “He has been really strong. I’ve no doubt that, given the right service, we will score goals.”
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