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Glasgow Rangers will be looking to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they host Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.
Steven Gerrard’s side stumbled for the first time in four domestic games after being held to a 1-1 draw by Hamilton Academical at New Douglas Park.
However, Rangers will be without Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe and Jermain Defoe when Gerrard’s side return to Premiership action against Kilmarnock this weekend.
Roofe became the latest Rangers forward to give the manager a headache after being banned by the Scottish FA for two games after a challenge on Murray Davidson against St Johnstone.
With Morelos also suspended and Defoe having missed the past few games due to injury, Glasgow Live claims Cedric Itten is expected to lead the line in their absence.
Defoe did not play in the 1-1 draw with Hamilton and given they are playing a similar level of opposition, this could be a chance for the 24-year-old gem to stake a claim for a starting spot in Gerrard’s first XI.
Itten started against the Accies but struggled to make much of an impression, before being replaced by Roofe in the second half, only for this to backfire tremendously as he also failed to find the back of the net.
The 3-cap Swiss international has only featured for a grand total of 853 minutes this season, including a brief cameo against Celtic as well as just three starts in the Scottish Premiership, per Transfermarkt.
However Gerrard has previously expressed his admiration for the highly-rated 6 ft 2 Rangers starlet after the 4-0 win against Ross County. He said: “I thought Cedric was magnificent for his goal and he is a big help knowing that he can help kill teams off.
“He will get enough starting games and he will get enough cameos coming on and he will be a big, important player for us moving forward.”
Both Morelos and Roofe are suspended, whilst Defoe is also a doubt for the upcoming fixture, Itten could keep his place upfront in-between Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi, as it would be wise to give him a run of games before the Europa League returns next month.
Standing well over 6 ft 2 in tall, the towering colossus should have no trouble filling in for the aforementioned trio, as he’s already given Rangers fans a glimpse of what he has to offer the first team in the past. After all, he opened the scoring against Lech Poznan in the Europa League from the centre-forward position.
In the absence of his more experienced teammates, it’s time for Itten to step up to the plate.
AND in other news, Rangers outcast Brandon Barker sends Steven Gerrard timely reminder…
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