Amad Diallo has time to flip the Rangers script - just look at the lesson of John Lundstram

After three starts in seven, an Old Firm thumping and tactical alteration excluding the need for a right-winger in wins over Hibs, Hearts and Borussia Dortmund the answer is likely no.

Ross Wilson said Ibrox was the “perfect place” for the youngster to showcase his talent and the player himself cited the opportunity to “test himself in many environments”. Yesterday at Tannadice having been brought off the bench to help chase the game, the environment appeared to be the problem.

The reaction to Amad’s performance after the final whistle was fuelled by two moments that many have used to justify disinterest and unsuitability to the pressure cooker that is a Scottish title run-in.

Having pulled out of a 50/50, which in a country that cheers tackles and goals with equalling ferocity qualifies as a cardinal sin, the attacker then displayed the naivety some suggested was inevitable given his inexperience when, fearing an offside call, he allowed James Tavernier’s reverse to run out of the pitch.

Football’s ever-changing narrative script is at the mercy of results, especially when the Old Firm are embroiled in a title race that has Champions League money waiting for the winner, and Amad certainly didn't stand to benefit yesterday.

While some reactions are knee-jerk, the environment Wilson suggested to be the perfect place can prove the opposite. Often players take time to adapt to demands at Rangers which is why improving the starting 11 in January can prove to be so difficult.

It’s also worth considering an alternative story between now and May.

Take yesterday and consider how different the Twitter feeds and message boards would have read if either red line below was chosen instead of the right-footed shot which clipped the post.

If Fashion Sakala is picked out to finish into an open goal, or the youngster opens his body and finishes beyond Benji Siegrist.

Or later in the game, had his cross which so narrowly evaded Sakala instead found the back of the net.

Of course, all of this is entirely hypothetical and footballers are judged on whether they can fall the right side of thin margins. Nevertheless, this is not a case of a player not impacting proceedings whatsoever.

Statistically, the sample size for the 19-year-old is tiny, 1.7 90 minutes to be exact in the Scottish Premiership. In his brief spell on the pitch yesterday Amad comfortably recorded the highest dribble and carry On-Ball Value of any player with 0.50.

His debut brought real promise and showed what he can add to this team. He scored, recorded an xG of 0.98 and created the equaliser in Dingwall while providing those cutting, vertical runs from the right-wing which no other squad member can as demonstrated in his carry map from the 3-3 draw.

It was only last month that John Lundstram was being willed out of the door by many as the transfer deadline loomed. How different was the state of his Rangers career as he scored the third in Dortmund?

Admittedly, Lundstram had time that Amad does not. Now there is no room for error, every game must return three points. Like Aaron Ramsey, the plan with Amad was to introduce a ‘ready now’ player into the mix while addressing a positional conundrum on the right.

And while many are uncomfortable with ‘developing other team’s players’ or being the very platform others use to springboard their career, the need for a 56th title supersedes such concern. 

Amad will be judged on his output because football supporters, naturally, want success and like players that bring that to their team.

But, as is so often the case in Glasgow, the script could be so different in a game or twos time.