Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has praised Ryan Kent for an ‘outstanding’ individual performance in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Ross County [RangersTV].
Kent started the season brilliantly but has struggled for form in recent times and prior to the fixture against the Staggies at Ibrox, he’d only netted once in his last 17 Premiership appearances.
He began the game brightly, though, and put the Gers in front in just the sixth minute with a looping header following a Morelos knockdown.
The winger was a man on a mission and less than ten minutes later, he struck the right post with a left-footed shot from outside the box.
He was ultimately unable to add to his early goal but he was heavily involved across the 90 minutes and he earned big praise from his manager after the game.
“I thought he was outstanding,” said Gerrard [RangersTV]. “We know he can play with the ball at his feet, we know he’s fast, we know he can pass, but I think an extra dimension to his game which we’re keen on is that he’s got to break the line and run in behind.”
“It gives us such a different option to go over and if we don’t get the first ball we can pick up the second. When we’re up against these blocks we’ve got to keep disrupting it in as many ways a possible, we can’t keep playing in front of teams for the whole game.
“But he was certainly right back at it today. He could have had a hat-trick but throughout he was a real threat and the job he does for the team as well out of possession is the reason why I trust him so much.”
Kent showed glimpses of quality in the 2-1 win at Aberdeen a fortnight ago and his strong performance against County suggests his confidence has finally returned.
Remarkably, the 24-year-old has started 24 of Rangers’ 25 league matches so far this season, and he’ll be confident of making the XI again for the trip to Hibernian on Wednesday night.
An imposing defender will be hoping to line up alongside Kent after impressing supporters in his first appearance of 2021.
