THERE were concerns raised earlier in the season that Steven Davis was simply playing too many games.
Now Rangers need him more than ever.
The Northern Irishman has only featured twice in the league under Giovanni van Bronckhorst; he started in the 1-0 win away to Hibernian back in December and was an 84th-minute substitute in the 5-0 thumping of Hearts at Ibrox last month.
Prior to van Bronckhorst’s arrival, Davis featured in 10 Premiership matches, winning seven of those with one defeat.
Having written a piece about Rangers’ overreliance on Davis back in September, it may seem somewhat odd to be calling on his reintroduction to the first team setup but, quite simply, he is too important a player not to use with the title race looking likely to go to the wire.
The 36-year-old hasn’t even made the matchday squad in the last three league encounters due to injury but the longer he misses out the more damaging it could prove to be.
A fully-fit Steven Davis could prove invaluable with eight games of the season remaining.
Before we delve into the stats as to why he should be used more regularly, there’s the small matter of experience. Davis is a serial winner, he boasts four league titles, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups to his name. He knows what it takes to get over the line and that is worth its weight in gold, or indeed silver when the gap at the top is as close as it currently is.
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Now let’s take a look at why he should be featuring more in this current Rangers team. If we view his stats compared to the previous campaign, what immediately stands out is his xG assisted numbers.
It was 0.08 last season whereas this campaign it measures 0.14. This is the calculation on chances being created and it’s a clear improvement.
His numbers are fairly even in terms of his other measured attributes but the xG assisted is something that grabs the attention based on the fact Rangers have been struggling in front of goal of late.
If we compare his stats to the players being preferred to play in the defensive midfield role we get a true understanding of what he could offer.
Take Glen Kamara to start off, his xG assisted numbers are half that of Davis. One of the Finn’s main criticisms is he doesn’t offer enough in an attacking sense and these figures highlight this.
John Lundstram is another who simply doesn’t provide the same level of intent as Davis with an xG assisted score of 0.08 while Ryan Jack scores the lowest out of the previous three at 0.06.
Now, they are predominately defensive midfielders so it’s not necessarily their primary job to assist with the conversion rate in the final third but having someone who is more capable of doing so within the squad, you can’t help but feel he needs to be utilised more than he is currently.
As it stands, Rangers sit three points behind Celtic and a mammoth 11 goals behind in the Goal Difference department. Now, logic tells us eight more 1-0 wins will see the SPFL league trophy remain under lock and key inside the cabinet in the Ibrox Trophy Room. However, if points aren’t going to settle the destination of the championship, goals will and sadly, as it stands, Rangers simply aren’t doing enough.
The forward players need to take more responsibility and deliver more, of that there is no question, but if you possess a defensive midfielder who can assist with those numbers by creating from deep, once fit, it would surely be folly not to use him.
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