Rangers star Scott Arfield was a player largely on the fringes before a ball was kicked this season, but he’s fought back against the odds to snare a starting berth at Ibrox.
The midfielder’s late runs and darting movement in behind has been a constant thorn in the side of pposition whilst his experience and work-rate has been an active, persistent addition to the Rangers XI.
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard even admitted at the end of September that Arfield wasn’t a major part of his plans at the beginning of the season.
“At the beginning of the season he wasn’t picked as a starter but at no given moment did he drop his attitude or his standards,” said Gerrard [RangersTV].
“He took it as a challenge, he trained harder, he trained better.
“His opportunity came and he’s arguably been our most consistent player over the last run of games.
“He’s sent a clear message to anyone else that’s on the fringe – a lot of players speak in the press but Scott done his talking on the training pitch and the pitch which is fantastic for me.”
The fact that since those comments Arfield has barely found himself out of the side is testament not only to his attitude but to his performances.
Arfield, 32, added his fifth goal of the season in the weekend’s 4-0 win over Aberdeen, the midfielder now scoring four goals in the Scottish Premiership alongside providing five assists in 15 games.
That means that the midfielder – who no longer travels for international duty with Canada according to Steven Gerrard – has been involved in every league game this season.
Out of the first six games, Arfield appears as a substitute in five of them, but since then he has started eight of the last nine.
In the Europa League too, Arfield has started two of the club’s three group games thus far and appeared as a second-half substitute against Benfica.
The midfielder might not be the most glamourous pick in a team of offensive talent but much of Rangers’ good form this season is down to the work-rate and performances of the ex-Burnley man.
With Rangers flying and Arfield’s name seemingly one of the first on that team-sheet, it’s been a remarkable against-the-odds rise for a player on the fringes of the squad this summer.
