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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark McDougall

5 things we spotted at Rangers training as Steven Gerrard is faced with big decisions

It's the day ahead of the Progres Niederkorn reunion and times have changed at Ibrox.

There's still a bit of fear among the Rangers support because of what happened last time but this is a different set of players and a different set of standards.

Steven Gerrard has come in and moved things forward on the pitch and you would expect his side to come out on top on Thursday night and over the two legs.

But there's still plenty of work to be done in the humid heat at the Hummel Training Centre.

Here are 5 things we spotted from Rangers training.

Transfer talk

(SNS)

Both Gerrard and Mark Allen have spoken about going to the wire for players and they seemed deep in conversation at training. Allen is a regular at the Hummel Training Centre and perhaps he was just letting him know that Kyle Lafferty was officially gone.

Rangers do need to get to rid of a few more players out the door with the likes of Eros Grezda and Graham Dorrans still on the books but not having any chance of getting near the squad.

Decisions to make

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As already mentioned, Gerrard has a huge squad and has a lot of big decisions to make on his first eleven. Perhaps the biggest of them is who his starting striker will be. He's got a young striker who scored 30 goals last season in Alfredo Morelos, but the Colombian also let him down at times. Someone who didn't let him down was Jermain Defoe and both have started this season on fire.

Both players will get plenty of opportunities over the season but it's a question of who is the main man that will be difficult. Gerrard also has decisions in defence and midfield with so many options in both positions.

Morelos finds a new partner

(SNS)

Morelos lost his best pal earlier this week when Daniel Candeias moved to Turkey but he seems to be moving on with a new bromance. Morelos and his skipper James Tavernier have appeared to be close in the team since the Colombian joined and they are regularly pictured winding each other up.

On this occasion Morelos appears to be rugby tackling his captain and Gerrard might have been watching from the side desperately hoping his talisman doesn't pick up an injury during it.

Defoe's Tavernier troubles

(SNS)

While Tavernier is dealing with Morelos winding him up, he's turned his own attention to Jermain Defoe. It's a sign of the spirit in this squad that the players are constantly having a laugh while doing their hard work.

Defoe has been there and done it at every level going and will be huge for Rangers this season if they are to have a successful campaign. The Ibrox side relied on Morelos far too much last year but now they have someone of Defoe's quality and experience to rely on as well.

Hastie's conundrum

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Jake Hastie was left out of the Europa League squad to face Progres Niederkorn this week and he might have a big decision on his hands this season. The winger only joined but the competition in the wide areas could leave Hastie with little game time this season.

With Sheyi Ojo, Jordan Jones, Greg Stewart, Scott Arfield and the returning Jamie Murphy all seemingly in front of him, a loan move to develop and play might be good for him. Hastie was signed by Rangers for his potential but there's not much point in him sitting in the stand every week this campaign.

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