Rangers midfielder Kieran Dowell has been praised by defender Leon Balogun having impressed with his performances in training of late.
Rangers were supposed to be in action this evening with Ross County scheduled to visit Ibrox.
However, adverse weather conditions mean the game has been postponed and leave the Gers with a few more days to recharge ahead of facing Celtic.
Rangers won’t turn down a few more days of rest after the Christmas period but one player probably can’t wait to play again…
Kieran Dowell hitting his stride at Rangers amid Leon Balogun praise
Midfielder Kieran Dowell scored the opener in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Motherwell, playing a one-two with Cyriel Dessers before firing high into the net.
Dowell joined Rangers on a free transfer from Norwich City over the summer with Michael Beale luring him to Ibrox.
The 26-year-old played in the first two league games of the season but found it difficult to kick on after picking up an injury.
Dowell managed just one appearance between the 13th of August and the 19th of December, almost becoming a forgotten man.
Dowell came in from the cold to start against St Johnstone last week, being called upon amid a dearth of midfield options at Ibrox.
The former Everton talent did well and then took his chance against Motherwell too, showing that Philippe Clement can call upon him if needed.
Dowell seems to be hitting his stride at Rangers and he has been impressing teammates around the training ground.
Defender Leon Balogun has now told Rangers TV that he thinks Dowell has been simply ‘fantastic’ in training.
Balogun noted that the Rangers squad have been speaking about his training performances in the dressing room, seemingly blown away by his displays.
Balogun has known Dowell for a while from their time together at Wigan Athletic and praised the playmaker for his ‘unbelievable’ upturn in form of late.
“For me, I am super, super happy for Kieran because he deserves that, and I think all the boys will agree,” said Balogun. “He has been training fantastic all the time and the boys have been speaking about his performances in training in the dressing room and I am happy that, coming from a difficult spell, that he has been able to put in these performances. I thought he was very strong on Sunday and I think he nicked Man of the Match, scored a goal. I knew him from my loan at Wigan a few years back before I came to Rangers for the first time, but for him, it’s unbelievable,” he added.
The task for Dowell now is to really kick on and turn in the performances on a regular basis.
Clement hasn’t had much choice but to turn to Dowell and he will soon have more midfield options at his disposal.
Jose Cifuentes will be back from suspension whilst John Lundstram, Nicolas Raskin and Ryan Jack will be back from injury soon enough.
Dowell will soon face bigger competition but he can hopefully take real confidence from his recent displays and make a consistent impact in Clement’s Rangers side.
