Rangers midfielder Stephen Kelly was snapped in training on Friday ahead of Saturday afternoon’s Premiership fixture against Dundee, after his bizarre omission from the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final squad in midweek.
Kelly played a substantial role in pre-season for the Gers after impressing out on loan at Ayr United and Ross County in previous campaigns.
However, he’s barely played since the competitive action got underway at the end of July.
Over the past two months, Kelly has only seen 12 minutes of first-team football, spread across appearances against Alashkert and Dunfermline Athletic.
He hasn’t yet made a squad for a Premiership fixture and so Wednesday night’s League Cup tie against Livi looked the perfect time to involve him, either from the start or off the bench.
Yet, despite Steven Gerrard having 20 spots to fill in the matchday squad, Kelly didn’t make the cut.
The 21-year-old’s omission was met with disbelief from plenty of supporters on social media, with some questioning whether or not injury had ruled him out of contention.
However, it looks like he simply wasn’t selected, as he was snapped in training less than 48 hours later and Steven Gerrard failed to mention any previous issue in Friday’s squad update.
If the Scotland U21 international can’t get a look in in the League Cup when Steven Davis is being rested and Ryan Jack is out injured, it’s hard to see how he’s going to feature at all for the Light Blues between now and the turn of the year.
Therefore, questions must be asked about why he wasn’t allowed to head out on loan in the closing stages of the summer transfer window.
Training with top-quality players every day is one thing but Kelly made 25 Premiership appearances last season and it’s hard to believe that he’s getting more out of sessions at Auchenhowie than he was from playing week in week out in the top flight.
Here’s our Rangers Predicted XI to face Dundee at Dens Park.
