Gareth McAuley’s performances throughout his career have generally been reliable. Therefore, he has to be the man to lead Rangers to Europa League glory on Thursday night.
Rapid Vienna are going to provide a stern test of Rangers’ last-32 credentials. The Ibrox side need a win in Austria – anything else and they’re out of the competition unceremoniously.
On the night, they need leaders and men with character to get them through a raucous atmosphere in Vienna. What it will also need, however, is genuine reliability at the back.
Therefore, there can only be one man to partner Connor Goldson at the heart of the defence tomorrow – and that’s McAuley.
It’s not so much an appraisal of how well McAuley has done so far. In truth, he’s not had a lot to do considering he’s only played one full 90 minutes at Rangers. This, however, is more down to just how bad the rest of the alternatives have been when called upon.
Nikola Katic can’t be criticised too harshly. He was dropped for the first Europa League group-stage match in Villarreal and hasn’t won his place back permanently since then. On the six occasions he’s been called up since, he hasn’t ever looked the same.
No Katic or Worrall
This also isn’t a piece that’s looking to bash Joe Worrall – we’ve had that one already. But the reality is that Steven Gerrard simply cannot even think about throwing the Englishman into the fray for tomorrow night’s clash against Rapid.
You only need to look back at Worrall’s last performance against Dundee as evidence of why he shouldn’t get a sniff in the match-day squad, nevermind start the game.
On the occasions Goldson has looked ropey, he’s generally had Worrall alongside him. Occasionally Katic too if you count Goldson’s Europa League performance in Moscow.
Thursday night will therefore require the experienced head of McAuley to guide Rangers through. He was impressive at Tynecastle as he and Goldson limited Hearts to hardly any sight of Allan McGregor’s goal. Given how big a match that was, you can’t undermine that performance.
He needs to add to his five Rangers appearances so far tomorrow night. He hasn’t put a foot wrong, whilst bringing back Katic would be too risky at the moment.
McAuley was brought in for this type of occasion. If Gerrard is resting him for the bigger games, then this match certainly falls into that category.
The Rangers manager needs to make sure he has no regrets at full-time. Starting McAuley alongside Goldson would give him peace of mind in that respect.
