Heading into the international break there were questions over the continuous use of three Rangers players in Steven Gerrard’s team.
Defender Connor Goldson, club captain James Tavernier and £7m winger Ryan Kent are all near-permanent fixtures in a Rangers side which has performed so well this season.
Goldson has played every minute of Rangers’ campaign this season, his presence one of the main reasons why the club has built solid foundations this season.
Rangers have kept 16 clean sheets this season with Goldson, 28, the permanent fixture alongside either Filip Helander and Leon Balogun
Tavernier – an early frontrunner for this season’s Player of the Year award in Scotland – has started every match but has been substituted off in two games this season.
Tav made way for Nathan Patterson for the second half of the 5-0 win over Lincoln Red Imps in Europa League Qualifying as the Gers look to bleed his back-up.
Ryan Kent has only missed one match this season – the game against Lincoln Red Imps – and started the season on explosive form, racking up five goals and five assists by mid-September.
The numbers might’ve dried up for Kent – save for an assist in the weekend’s 8-0 thrashing of Hamilton – but he remains a foundation of this side which is performing so well.
Going into the next period of the season Rangers’ use of these three players will be tested like never before.
The international break has twice this season served as an opportunity for the three Rangers stars to rest and prepare for a run of fixtures.
But without an international break until Spring next year and a run of over 20 fixtures without the chance to catch a breather, they will need to be used more sparingly by the Ibrox side.
Once this international break comes to an end Rangers are entering a defining period of the season and will need their best players firing if they’re to take advantage of their start this season.
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