Giovanni van Bronckhorst assured Kemar Roofe he still has a big part to play in Rangers’ cinch Premiership title defence after he stepped off the bench to score a vital winning goal against Aberdeen.
The 29-year-old has found game time limited in recent months due to a combination of injury and the form of top scorer Alfredo Morelos.
However, Van Bronckhorst took the Colombian off – much to the frustration of some home supporters who booed the decision – and replaced him with Roofe in the 78th minute of Saturday’s match at home to Aberdeen.
The substitution proved inspired, however, as the former Leeds attacker netted his first league goal in three months within three minutes of entering the field to secure a 1-0 win for the champions.
“Kemar is very important,” said Van Bronckhorst. “In the last months he has struggled a little bit with some injuries but he is still working hard on the training ground to be ready.
“I gave him a compliment in the locker room because it is not easy, especially for the players who haven’t played a lot in recent weeks, to keep training hard and wait for your chance.
“His chance came against Aberdeen and he made the difference so I am really pleased for him. Not only for him but he represents the players who haven’t played a lot. In the coming weeks, when we will also play again in Europe, there are a lot of games to be played and we need to use everyone in that moment.”
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin praised 19-year-old midfielder Connor Barron for bouncing back from a “poor” display in Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Hearts by producing a mature performance at Ibrox.
“I thought the wee man was excellent,” said the Dons boss. “He’s been great since I came in. He was one of the best players against Motherwell in our first game and again excellent against Dundee United.
“He had a poor game on Wednesday at Tynecastle and it would have been easy to take him out and put somebody else in, but I don’t manage like that.
“Players need to be allowed to have an off day. They can’t play with that fear that if they make a couple of bad passes the manager is going to take them out the team. He knows his performance on Wednesday wasn’t good enough but we gave him the opportunity to make amends and he did that brilliantly at Ibrox.
“He is only a small fella, but he has real quality. Some of the best players in the world – the likes of Iniesta and Xavi – were only small as well and I think we sometimes get caught up with needing big, physical athletes.
“Connor can handle the ball and he is brave on it. He is willing to take it in tight areas and, if he carries on with consistent performances like that, he will be a mainstay in my team going forward.”
