Caixinha makes surprise claim about Rangers 27-year-old being hammered by fans
By Danny Wright
Pedro Caixinha has surprisngly claimed that Carlos Pena is among the top three fittest Rangers players despite him being constantly criticised for his recent displays.
Pena, 27, moved to Ibrox from Mexican side Chivas for £2.7million in the summer and is yet to impress the fans with his first handful of performances in a Gers shirt.
The Mexico international is yet to complete 90 minutes’ worth of action, with pundits and fans hammering him for being nowhere near the fitness levels required to play in the senior squad.
Pena looked jaded for the entire first half of Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Celtic in the Premiership and it was a surprise that he wasn’t hooked at half-time with him looking to be a passenger in the midfield.
However despite claims of the contrary, Caixinha has explained that he has the data to prove the Pena is in fact one of the fittest players on the books at Ibrox despite all the on-pitch evidence going against it.
“Decisions and the restrictions in space and time has nothing to do with fitness,” he said, as quoted by the Daily Record.
“I can show you the data which we have in the database.
“In the database it goes for the goal distance covered and the high-intensity runs that the players do in each one one of the sessions.
“I can tell you, that in since a long time from now, Carlos is in the top three of that list.”
Pena has made six appearances across all competitions for Rangers this season, scoring two goals in the process.
However he has started just twice in that time, with the game against Celtic on Saturday being the first time Caixinha named him in his first XI in the Premiership.
The ex-Chivas ace is yet to play for more than 71 minutes in a match even though it is nearly October.
In other Rangers news, this 26-year-old has been confirmed to have suffered a freak injury before the Gers’ clash with Hamilton.
We’ve launched a << BREAKING NEWS FEED>> exclusively for your club. ‘Like Us’ on Facebook by clicking here if you want 24/7 updates on all Rangers breaking news.