Alex McLeish was surprised that Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted for four at the back in their latest outing against Dundee United.
The Light Blues ran out 2-1 winners but some were still unconvinced by the performance after three tough defeats to Celtic, Ajax and Napoli. Against the latter, McLeish saw John Lundstram drop into defence when needed to assist Connor Goldson and James Sands, with his view being he'd liked to have witnessed that in the Premiership.
Rangers haven't had troubles to see in terms of injuries at central defence, with John Souttar, Filip Helander, Ben Davies and Leon King also injured or have been at some stage this campaign. But unlocking James Tavernier's attacking potential at right-back has to be a priority for van Bronckhorst.
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Former Light Blues boss McLeish told Football insider: "That was a wee bit of a surprise. It would have been good to see that momentum and say ‘let’s see what we can do with this system domestically’.
"It gave them more attacking flow. It unleashed Tavernier on the flanks and I think that was one of the key principles.
"I thought Giovanni would stick to it. It’s a good system and gave Rangers more attacking options. The performance against Dundee United was a little bit stale. In the end, it was a bit fraught when United got a goal back.
"It was a run of games where confidence has really eroded and it is time to get that confidence back.”
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