Steven Gerrard has explained his decision to start Nathan Patterson on Sunday was so he could rest James Tavernier and avoid overusing the Rangers defender, via the Daily Record.
The Ibrox boss is fearful of overusing Tavernier again this term after he missed two months with a knee injury last season. Yet the 29-year-old still accumulated 46 appearances across all competitions, and has featured 12 times already during the current campaign.
Gerrard feels he has been unable to rotate his right-back in the past as Rangers have lacked depth behind Tavernier. But Patterson now offers the Glasgow outfit a quality replacement when needed after stepping up from the B-team last year.
Gerrard intends to put even more trust in Patterson this term so Rangers can get the most from Tavernier. Believing that relying on the 19-year-old to play more minutes will be the best blueprint for extracting the best results from the Gers captain this season.
“I think it would have surprised a lot of people, which I appreciate, but Tav is capable of playing 60-65 games a season,” Gerrard said. “I know he is because he is a machine, and he is very robust.
“But he had an injury at the back end of last season, and as a manager and a staff, we feel we have overused James. We’ve had back-ups, but we haven’t had back-ups the quality of Nathan Patterson.
“We’ve got just as much trust in James as we do in Nathan and vice-versa. We want maybe less games out of James, but more quality. I believe that will help him put his foot to the floor and it will certainly help the group.”
Patterson has big shoes to fill for Gerrard if Rangers rest Tavernier
Patterson will have big shoes to fill at Ibrox this season if Gerrard rests Tavernier regularly across Rangers’ schedule. The £14k-a-week leader is a highly effective piece of the Gers’ attacking puzzle and an almost ever-present feature when fit.
Tavernier has already offered four assists and a goal over his 12 appearances so far this term. While Patterson has created one in four outings, with the cross for Kemar Roofe to draw the Glasgow outfit level against Hibernian on Sunday before Alfredo Morelos’ winner.
Patterson had failed to provide an assist in any of his prior 19 senior appearances to two goals scored. While Tavernier ended last season as Rangers’ top-scorer in all competitions with 19 goals and lead playmaker with 16 assists. Setting a high bar to better this season.
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