Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has claimed that £3.5 million summer signing Kemar Roofe [The Times] has shifted things up a notch during the international break, as quoted by Rangers.co.uk.
15 Gers players have been away with their national teams over the past week, but Roofe, has instead been working hard to get sharper.
The 27-year-old joined the Gers over a month ago but was well behind his new teammates in terms of fitness levels.
Gerrard said his new forward would need time to catch up to the rest of the squad [Evening Express], while he was always going to be rusty after over six months without a competitive appearance.
Now, though, after a mini-break and some additional individual work, it sounds as though he’s pretty much up to speed.
“I think it’s important they freshen up from a mental point of view – we [the group of players not on international duty] have trained a couple of times now and the standard has been excellent,” Gerrard told Rangers.co.uk.
“You can see the likes of Kemar, who has been given work to do away from here, now starting to look really ready which is fantastic.”
Rangers boss Gerrard says Kemar Roofe now up to speed – Verdict
Bears will be excited by these comments from Gerrard ahead of Saturday’s Premiership fixture against Dundee United.
Roofe has shown glimpses of his ability so far in Light Blue and scored in Rangers’ last home game in a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock.
However, he has looked a little off the pace at times during his four appearances to date, both in general play and in front of goal.
The break in fixtures appears to have come at a good time for the forward to work on individual aspects of his game and to raise his fitness levels further still, and he’ll be looking to reap the rewards of that hard work in the coming weeks.
