Rangers boss Michael Beale has picked out Nicolas Raskin as the best player in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock.
Beale was looking to get off to a strong start as Rangers opened up the Scottish Premiership campaign at Kilmarnock.
Sadly, this will go down as another dismal trip to Rugby Park.
Brad Lyons scored the only goal of the game, firing past Jack Butland to consign Rangers to defeat.
Rangers already knew that slip-ups simply couldn’t be afforded; title-winners can’t afford too many of these defeats.
Michael Beale must now go away and attempt to get Rangers back on track with the games coming thick and fast.
First it’s Servette in the Champions League qualifiers and then Livingston at Ibrox with two wins absolutely needed.
Michael Beale praises Nicolas Raskin
This was a difficult evening for Rangers.
Sam Lammers didn’t really take his pre-season form into the Scottish Premiership opener and Cyriel Dessers didn’t look as sharp as hoped.
There simply weren’t many positives to take from Saturday’s defeat but Beale did at least manage to find one.
Beale told Rangers Review that he felt Nicolas Raskin was the best player on the pitch for Rangers.
The Belgian is a key player for Beale and the Rangers boss was certainly pleased with his performance.
Beale felt that Raskin was the driving force for Rangers but ended up seeming ‘frustrated’ as the Gers couldn’t find a way back into the game.
“I don’t think everything was bad, some of our play was good and I think Nicolas Raskin was probably our best player and he tried to drive the team forward,” said Beale.
“He cut a frustrated figure at the end because we couldn’t find that moment of quality. If you have as much possession as we had then you’d like to work the goalkeeper more,” he added.
It’s going to take time for Rangers’ new signings to settle in and Beale unfortunately has to try and and win games whilst they situation develops.
Raskin has already been at Rangers for a few months now and is already settled in and ultimately a go-to player for Beale.
The January signing from Standard Liege looks poised for a big season but he will be focused on team results over individual performances moving forward.
