Gio van Bronckhorst has praised Rangers player John Lundstram for his recent strong form [Heart & Hand].
Lundstram initially struggled for playing time following the Dutchman’s appointment, often only coming off the bench in the closing stages of matches to help see out results.
He didn’t even get a start against Livingston late last month when Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Joe Aribo were all unavailable.
However, the manager turned to him against Hearts at the weekend following the dire Old Firm showing that he’d watched from the bench and the Englishman was impressive in midfield.
As the player himself noted during Tuesday’s press conference, consistency of performance is crucial at Rangers, so he was under pressure to back up his strong showing against Hibs on Wednesday night.
And he did just that. The former England youth international linked the play well, while pounced on loose balls and pulled off a number of interceptions to help the Gers to a 2-0 win.
Lundstram has clearly moved up a few places in the pecking order and just a few weeks after being linked with a move elsewhere [Daily Record], he now looks in a position to make a success of his time at Ibrox.
“I’m really happy for him,” said van Bronckhorst [Heart & Hand].
“It’s not easy to be sitting on the bench but the response he’s given me in the last two games is exactly what I wanted.”
Now, the challenge for Lundstram is maintaining these high standards over an extended period.
Given Celtic’s strong current form, Rangers can’t afford many slip ups between now and the end of the season if they are to successfully defend their title, and dominating the midfield area will be key to churning out results.
In case you missed it, here’s our match report from the win over Hibs.
