Rangers boss Steven Gerrard appears to have hinted at a selection call in a press conference captured by RangersTV, ahead of his side’s trip to Livingston on Sunday.
In the early stages of the season, the manager opted to rotated his defence regularly.
Connor Goldson and James Tavernier have been near constants, but the other two spots were filled by different personnel on a game-by-game basis.
Borna Barisic, Jon Flanagan and Andy Halliday shared left-back responsibilities, while one of Nikola Katic, George Edmundson or Filip Helander would partner Goldson at centre-back.
Things have been a lot more settled recently, though.
Barisic has capitalised on an injury to Flanagan to nail down his place in the XI. Meanwhile, Helander’s commanding defending and goals have seen him establish himself as first-choice alongside Goldson.
As a result, the same defence has been deployed for the last five matches.
Gerrard thinks settled back four benefitting Gers
“Yes I do,” said Gerrard as captured by RangersTV, when asked if he thought keeping the same personnel has helped with results. “I think us as a staff, we’ve made the right decision in terms of when to put Helander in.”
“I think it’s very important when you come to this league from a technical league that you see the opposition, in terms of the style you’re going to be facing, individuals you could come up against.
“I think the sensible thing, especially with the quality we’ve got in that position, was to be patient and I think you can see the benefits of that now because Fil knows what he’s going to be facing from challenge to challenge.”
Verdict
There’s no doubt Rangers have looked solid defensively of late, conceding just twice in their last five games.
Individual errors have cost the team points both domestically and in Europe, but they have been less frequent now that there is greater cohesion amongst the back four.
Some Bears were disappointed that Nikola Katic didn’t even make the squad for Thursday night’s Europa League game. Yet, after these comments from the manager, it seems there’s very little chance of an alteration being made at the back for Livingston.
With the international break on the horizon, the boss looks set to back the four who did him proud against Porto and hopefully, they’ll combine to help keep a fourth clean sheet in a row.
