Mohamed Diomande was supposed to be the poster boy of Rangers’ transfer revolution.
But there have been several times the 23-year-old Ivorian has struggled to live up to the expectations attached to the £4.3m Rangers spent bringing Diomande from Denmark.
Against St Johnstone, the ex-FC Nordsjaelland midfielder was back amongst the goals and also laid on an assist in an impressive performance in the Rangers midfield.
But it’s not enough for the ambitious young midfielder, with Mohamed Diomande insisting he’s working hard on adding more numbers and making a bigger impact from the middle of the pitch.
Mohamed Diomande on adding goals and preferred position
Mohamed Diomande put in the kind of dominant performance that many Rangers fans expected more consistently from the Ivorian in the win over the Saints.
There is clear talent in the midfielder, who has that Glen Kamara-esque ability of swivelling on the ball in tight spaces and creating space whilst at the same time posing more of a threat than the Finnish international going forward.
A technical footballer with high potential, Diomande has also been an engine for Rangers in several high profile matches and earned the praise of his teammates.
Discussing his preferred position and what he’s doing to improve, Diomande admits that there have been times when he personally has fallen short this season.
But like everyone at Rangers, it’s about dusting themselves off and going again to try and ‘make the difference’.
”I really want to keep on doing that,” said Diomande.
“I want to make the difference also when I get up high on the pitch. I want to score the goals and give the assists.
”That’s something that I am working on at training and I hope it continues like that.
”I’ve had good games and also not good games but I am happy I was back on the scoresheet today.
”I want to continue like that.
”I think I can play all around the middle. I can play six, eight or ten.
”I think that’s one of the attributes I bring to the team.
“I always want to be on the ball. I want to be on the ball to build a team up and also get in the box and score goals. My best position is central midfield.
”Personally I like to make a lot of runs to create spaces for my teammates or get the ball.
”I try to do that every game to give the best space for my teammate or to do get in the best position to make the difference.“
Mohamed Diomande on Rangers away form
Whilst Rangers made in ten wins from eleven at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership with victory against St Johnstone, the away form finds itself under the microscope.
Mohamed Diomande has spoken already about the protests which marred the victory and the Rangers midfielder is backing Philippe Clement.
But the Right to Dream Academy graduate was also asked about what Rangers need to do to turn the away form on its head and deliver the consistent success fans crave.
“I will say it’s the same thing,” said Diomande. “We have XI players on the pitch.
”It has been difficult away, we have not been getting the points we wanted but we are really working hard in training to try and find out why we can’t win games away.
”It has been difficult away, we have not been getting the points we wanted but we are really working hard in training to try and find out why we can’t win games away.
”We are getting there slowly to get the points that we all want.
“We need to be able to break teams down when they sit down with XI players behind and we’re working on that.”
Speaking about the visit of Aberdeen on Wednesday, Diomande said: ”I think the game is important. Like I said, we have a good run at Ibrox and we want to keep it that way.
”We want to win games at Ibrox and we want to win again on Wednesday.”
