Rangers need to bring in competition for international defender after stand-out season

Tue 29 May 2018 13:13, UK

COMMENT

Rangers defender Declan John has made the left-back berth at Ibrox his own over the last nine months – but incoming manager Steven Gerrard needs to bring in some competition for the 22-year-old Wales international this summer.

After injury sidelined Lee Wallace for much of the season – and the club captain’s Ibrox career looking like it will come to an imminent end – the Light Blues are left with little cover for John should he get injured and it could pose problems for the Gers later in the campaign.

Maltese defender Myles Beerman signed a new one-year deal recently but it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to push John on and challenge him for a place in the starting XI.

The only other alternative would be Andy Halliday but he is another who sees his Ibrox career hanging by a thread and isn’t of a high enough quality to pose any real threat to John’s place in the side.

With the Gers already needing to bring in several central defenders, at least one full-back is also going to need to be high on Gerrard’s shopping list as he prepares for his first season in charge of the Ibrox giants otherwise he could find himself seriously struggling to achieve his aims in Glasgow.

While John is the current undisputed first choice at left-back, the Gers have found out far too many times in recent years that not having solid competition for places in the side leads to players getting into a comfort zone and their performance levels dropping off.

If the Gers are serious about launching a title challenge this season then getting in quality additions throughout the squad will be massively important for Gerrard and director of football Mark Allen.