Are Rangers learning why Joe Worrall was available on loan?

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Glasgow Rangers defender Joe Worrall has not been at his best for the Ibrox side in the past few weeks.

Given that he was the subject of an £11.5 million bid from a Premier League side in January – as reported by the Daily Mail – it appeared to be a massive coup for Rangers when they announced that they had signed Joe Worrall on a season-long loan deal in the summer.

The defence was the Gers’ Achilles heel last season and Worrall’s arrival seemed to be another indication that Steven Gerrard was not going to allow his side to suffer from the same problems during his tenure.

And in fairness to Gerrard, Rangers are unquestionably a much better side defensively than they were last term. And Worrall has played an important role in their progress.

The 21-year-old has been Connor Goldson’s most regular partner in recent weeks, and initially it appeared that the pair could strike up a fantastic understanding.

However, perhaps it would now be fair to say that it is starting to become a little more apparent why Nottingham Forest were prepared to let the centre-back leave for the season despite the eight-figure bids and Worrall having more than 50 league appearances for Aitor Karanka’s men under his belt.

Worrall’s form has been a little more underwhelming in recent weeks. He received criticism from the supporters after the 2-0 win against St Mirren at the weekend – and that was only the third clean sheet he has helped the side keep in 10 appearances.

He must, of course, not shoulder the blame on his own, nor does Worrall deserve to be written off. But his loan spell as a whole does hint that Forest did not think that he was enough of a finished article to hold down a spot in their current team.

The fantastic thing for Rangers is that Gerrard not only has options, but Worrall also has a lot of quality and potential, so there is little reason to believe that the youngster will not rediscover the form that he showed in his first few appearances for the Gers.