Rangers star Ianis Hagi has been named in the SPFL Team of the Week as he continues to push for a first appearance against Celtic [SPFL Twitter].
Hagi has been in and out of the Gers side since making his initial loan move from Genk permanent in the summer.
At 22, he’s far from the finished article and he tends to drift in and out of games more than some of the other more experienced players he’s in competition with.
However, he has excellent vision and technical ability and despite only starting half of Rangers’ 20 league matches, he has the second-most assists in the Premiership with seven.
He’s started scoring goals himself, too, with his third in five games coming in the 1-0 win over Hibernian at the weekend.
The Romania international admitted after the game that it had always been a dream of his to play on Boxing Day and he was the standout performer on the pitch.
He looked keen to create from the off and fired inches wide with an impressive off-balance effort just prior to netting the winner in the 33rd-minute with a clinical first-time finish.
A few days on, Hagi has been rewarded for his contribution with a place in SPFL Team of the Week.
He’s been included on the right side of a midfield four, beside Ismaila Soro of Celtic, who he’ll be hoping to face at Ibrox on Saturday.
Hagi was left on the bench for the meeting between the two sides in October and he is yet to feature in an Old Firm.
However, after goals in consecutive Premiership starts, he’s very much in Steven Gerrard’s plans and is pushing to feature on derby day.
First up is a fixture against St Mirren on Wednesday afternoon, though, and Jim Goodwin has predicted that Gerrard will bring in two dangerous players as he seeks revenge for the Gers’ shock League Cup defeat in Paisley earlier in the month.
