Jonatan Johansson praises Rangers defender Lee Hodson

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Rangers beat Berwick Rangers 4-0 on Wednesday night in Steven Notman’s testimonial.

Rangers assistant manager Jonatan Johansson has told Rangers TV, as quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times, that he was impressed with Lee Hodson’s mentality on Wednesday night.

The Scottish giants eased past League Two side Berwick Rangers with a 4-0 win in Steven Notman’s testimonial match, after fielding a side that comprised of both academy stars and first-teamers in need of game time.

David Bates, Serge Atakayi, Aaron Nemane and Jordan Thompson all found the back of the net to earn a comfortable win, with Rangers including first-team stars such as Hodson, Fabio Cardoso, Eduardo Herrera and Dalcio in their side.

Johansson, who was himself a player for Rangers for three years between 1997 and 2000, stated that Hodson’s mental strength was a positive from Wednesday night after a “terrible flight” back from Switzerland after representing Northern Ireland in their 2018 World Cup play-offs.

“I have to pick Lee Hodson out because he has been away with Northern Ireland this week and it was a difficult week for him mentally,” Johansson said.

“He came back yesterday after a terrible flight and to come and give a performance like he did today was really good so I am pleased for him.”

Hodson, 26, was an unused substitute for both legs against Switzerland, as the likes of Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Ricardo Rodriguez scraped into the finals with a 1-0 win aggregate win.

The versatile defender has been forced to play second fiddle at Rangers this season despite being able to play on either side of the defence, with James Tavernier and Declan John preferred.

But after impressing against Berwick, Hodson could be in line to feature against Hamilton on Saturday as the Gers play host to Martin Canning’s side at Ibrox.